As indicated by Chinese futures on Friday, the spot iron ore price rose slightly on Friday evening.
According to Metal Bulletin, the spot price for benchmark 62% fine rose 18 cents, or 0.36%, to $49.83 a tonne. For the week, the benchmark price fell by $179, or 3.5% – weighed down by mounting concerns that increased iron ore seaborne exports and tepid demand from China may pressure prices in the months ahead.
Pointing to the possibility of a further increase in the spot price arriving this evening, Chinese iron ore futures rose fractionally on Friday evening, rising 0.28% to 362 yuan.
Despite the increase, the figure does not incorporate the Chinese manufacturing PMI reading for October released on Sunday. At 49.8, it missed expectations for an increase to 50.0 and marked the third consecutive month that activity had contracted.