Seaborne iron ore prices fell again on Tuesday after Monday’s short-lived rebound. The market shrugged off suggestions by Vale that the dam collapse at Samarco could also impact one of its mines.

The Kallanish index for 62% Fe Australian fines slipped by $0.30 to $47.78/dry metric ton cfr Qingdao There were no confirmed deals on globalORE but futures prices lost the ground they had gained the previous day. Rio Tinto held a tender on 9 November for 190,000 tonnes of PB fines that closed at $48.01/t with a laycan of 23 November-2 December.

Brazil’s Vale has said that a dam collapse which has temporarily knocked off line the 30 million tonnes/year pellet maker Samarco, could also impact production at its own Mariana mine complex. Samarco is Vale’s Brazilian joint venture with BHP Billiton, Kallanish notes. The miner says mudslides have knocked out a conveyor belt at the 40m t/y mine.

The impact is expected to be minimal compared to that on Samarco however. Vale also has significant volumes already sailing towards Chinese ports, some potentially still looking for a final buyer.