Iron-ore rose on Wednesday as worries mount over supply boosted prices.
Benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China (CFR Qingdao) were up 1.4%, changing hands for $212.67 a tonne on Wednesday afternoon, according to Fastmarkets MB.
The most-traded September iron-ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange ended daytime trading 4% higher at 1,175 yuan ($183.78) a tonne, after earlier advancing to 1,191.50 yuan.
Iron-ore inventory at Chinese ports dropped to 127.65 million tonnes last week, the lowest since February 5, while shipment arrivals were lower than the prior-week and year-ago volumes, according to metals data provider SMM.
Shipments from Rio Tinto were seen declining, while Vale has interrupted production at its Timbopeba mine and part of its Alegria mine after prosecutors ordered the evacuation of an area around the nearby Xingu dam, in the state of Minas Gerais.
The closures reduce its output by 40,000 tonnes of iron ore a day.
“We should start seeing the impact of this week’s stoppage in next week’s export numbers,” RBC Capital Markets mining analyst Kaan Peker said in a note.
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