Something old, something new: something not linked to 62.

The three tier iron ore index market (58%, 62% and 65%) only has two working parts. 58% indices have become detached from reality for over a year. The physical spot market has evaporated: so what, exactly, do they represent?

Taking a look at seaborne spot trade data collected by Argus, it is immediately apparent that there is none. The British explorer Wilfred Thesiger was famed, among other things, for his exploration and crossing of the Arabian 'Empty Quarter'. He'd have met his match in a landscape like this, though - with not one - but three barren quarters, devoid of life. No heartbeat has been heard in the market since June 2017.

So what? Well, this market is worth billions of dollars, so the market shouldn't close it's eyes to a glaring issue. Using adjacent markets (linking to a 62% index) doesn't work. A prior article on that topic is available below.

Argus launched a new daily iron ore index on 9th of February, which is grounded in a deep <60pc fixed price liquidity pool. An accompanying white paper is below. It lays out why Argus think it should prove useful to buyers and sellers who have been struggling to test the value of lower grade fines for over a year, in a seaborne market without spot trade.