The seaborne iron ore market pulled back on Tuesday but prices remained firm.

The Kallanish KORE 62% Fe index and the KORE 65% Fe index declined by $0.19/t and $0.85/t respectively to $133.93/dry metric tonne cfr Qingdao and $145.02/dmt cfr. The KORE 58% Fe index, however, was $0.78/t higher at $125.25/dmt cfr.

80,000 tonnes and 90,000t of JMBF fines were sold at the same floating price with a laycan of 16-25 December. Meanwhile, 170,000t of PB fines were booked at an unfixed price with shipment between 28 December and 6 January.

On the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE), January 2024 iron ore gained CNY 18.5/t ($2.59/t) to CNY 978.5/t ($137/t). On the Singapore Exchange, December 62% Fe futures and 65% Fe futures settled $2.18/t and $2.89/t higher respectively at $133.27/t and $146.54/t. The same contract for 58% Fe futures was up $2.2/t to $121.66/t.

Scrap and billet prices extended their gains on Tuesday. 6mm+ heavy scrap delivered to mills in the Yangtze River Delta was up CNY 7/t at CNY 2,844/t. Tangshan billet meanwhile rose CNY 30/t to CNY 3,710/t.

Baosteel publicly responded to the market on Tuesday, saying the company believed iron ore prices have deviated from fundamentals. In the long term, iron ore prices should return to a reasonable range. Specific response measures are required involving joint efforts of governments, industries, enterprises and other parties, it said.

On the same day, China's Ministry of Environment announced it would conduct inspections in five provinces including Fujian, Henan, Hainan, Gansu, and Qinghai for one month. This is another central action after the environment ministry conducted an inspection of Tangshan (see Kallanish passim). It means the central department still hopes to control production and reduce market enthusiasm through inspection.