MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian iron ore prices rose in the past few days, lifted by demand from buyers in China who are looking to save money on rising freight costs by booking material from nearby suppliers.
A large miner-cum-exporter in east India said deals were done on Friday for ores with 63.5 percent iron content at $66.5 and $67 with freight, up from $66.1 earlier last week.
"Since Thursday, demand has increased," the exporter said.
Another exporter said he had sold ores with 63.5 percent iron at $65 a tonne with freight on Friday, up from from $62-$63 in the April 27 week.
The seller, a manager at a mid-sized exporter based in east India, said rising freight rates were making ores from Brazil and Australia, further from China than India, more expensive, boosting demand for Indian material.
China, the world's biggest steel producer, mainly buys iron ores from Brazil and Australia with India as its third supplying base.
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates to ship dry bulk commodities, was at 2,215 points on Tuesday, higher by 0.05 percent from a day ago, and near its highest for the year so far -- a peak of 2,298 points hit in March.
Another reason for the increase in demand is the approaching monsoon that will engulf India's south western coast by end of the month or early in June disrupting normal shipments.
"For Goan iron ores, another two or three weeks of supply are left," said Glen Kalvampara, secretary of Goa Mineral Ore Exporters' Association.
Source : REUTERS INDIA