"Chinese iron ore futures climbed to their strongest level in more than two years on Friday, reflecting firm demand for the steelmaking raw material as steel prices stretched gains along with coal to multi-year highs.
Helped by rising futures and increased appetite for high-grade ore, spot iron ore prices also extended their rally to over six-month peaks and were on course for their fourth week of gains.
Chinese steel mills now prefer high-grade iron ore, mainly from Australia and Brazil, to boost productivity and consume less coal as a shortage in China keeps prices of the fuel high, traders said.
"Offers of high-grade to the market are not as much as the past few weeks. Some people are reluctant to quote their cargo because they feel the market will get stronger so they prefer to wait," said a Shanghai-based iron ore trader."
"Iron ore with iron content of 60 percent and above is considered high-grade and the gap between the 62-percent benchmark and 58-percent grade <.58LA-CNI=SI> stood at $8.60 a tonne on Thursday, near a one-month high."
If the difference from 58% to 62% is $8.60, then CAP's 68% should get a nice premium.
CAP Price at posting:
4.8¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held