Seaborne iron ore prices returned to a declining trend on Thursday last week, with weaker-than-expected November financial data hitting market confidence.

The Kallanish KORE 62% Fe index dropped on Thursday $3.78/tonne to $103.11/dry metric tonne cfr Qingdao. The Kallanish KORE 65% Fe index declined $3.87/t to $120.24/dmt cfr, but the KORE 58% Fe index gained $0.67/t to $78.17/dmt cfr.

On the Dalian Commodity Exchange, May iron ore settled down CNY 19.5/t at CNY 644/t ($101.04/t), while on the Singapore Exchange January 62% Fe futures settled down $3.33/t at $109.13/t. The same contract for 65% Fe and 58% Fe futures settled down $4.18/t at $126.23/t, and down $0.23/t at $83.16/t respectively. 90,000 tonnes of JMBF 60.5% Fe were booked for January shipment.

Chinese scrap and billet prices however remained firm last week. Grade 6mm+ heavy scrap delivered to mills in the Yangtze River Delta increased CNY 14/t to CNY 3,415/t. In Tangshan, billet prices were steady at CNY 4,360/t.