Copying and distributing are prohibited without permission of the publisher

Contract conundrum: Q4 prices set to settle down as shorter terms start to emerge

August 23, 2010 - 00:00 GMT

All calm? - Talk of defaults appear to be off the mark

Third-quarter iron ore contracts have largely gone as planned. Falling spot market values certainly put contract prices under pressure. But talk of defaults seem to have been off target. There were some amendments — Rio Tinto shifted its reference period one month backwards in line with Vale’s. This meant mills paid Rio Tinto and Vale $154.999 per tonne cfr Qingdao on a 62% Fe basis, according to the average of the MBIOI in March,...

All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. © Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.


subscribe to this feed Comment & analysis

  • LORD COPPER: Glencore-Xstrata will be a merger of more-than-equals

    Glenstrata, X-Core, Davenberg, Mivan? Whatever the result of the Glencore-Xstrata merger is to be called, finding a name is an inevitable step after the IPO.

  • COMMENT: Glenstrata still has to break the mould

    The news that Glencore and Xstrata are in merger talks would only come as a surprise to someone living under a rock, and only then if said rock did not contain any valuable minerals. But now that talks of a tie-up of the world’s largest metals trader and its fourth largest miner have finally moved into the boardroom, hypothetical questions have become real, and the answers are far from certain.

  • APEX FULL YEAR 2011: Base metal forecasts: astounding accuracy

    Astounding upon astounding: that is how the 2011 leaderboard for Apex, the Metal Bulletin service that tracks the performance of over twenty top base metal price forecasters, appears when you consider it coldly.

Upcoming Events

Most readMost emailed

Popular Searches on MB

MB Glossary


From Aluminium to Zinc...
Search this free glossary on metals