Iron ore, coking coal prices are soaring
Mining.comreports that steelmaking raw materials made strong gains on Monday as Chinese mills, responsible for half the world’s steel output, restock ahead of the resumption of full production at the end of winter.
The Northern China import price of 62% Fe content ore jumped 5.2% to the highest since September trading at .40 per dry metric tonne according to data supplied by The Steel Index. Although down sharply from its 2017 high struck in February > iron ore has averaged $70.60 since the start of the year compared to $56.50 over the course of 2016.
Steelmaking coal (premium hard-coking coal FOB Australia) was pegged at $243.90 a tonne up 1.4% compared to Friday, a near eight-month high. Coking coal has surged 37% in value since the beginning of November and is averaging $185.70 in 2017, a more than $40 gain compared to the average price last year.