Asian iron ore spot activity picks up in 2023 as mills sought to shield margins

As firm demand by Chinese mills pushed the country's iron ore imports to a record volume of 1.18 billion mt, the quantity of iron ore price data points – or heards – published by Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, rose 2.9% to 26,958 last year. These were in relation to fines, lump, pellet and concentrate cargoes.

Of the total, heards for seaborne cargoes largely on a CFR China basis accounted for the bulk of information published, 71%, while heards for Chinese port stock cargoes that trade largely on a FOT China basis made up 29%.