Today, the most-traded iron ore futures contract I2601 con nued to be in the doldrums, closing at 769, down 0.19% from yesterday. Traders showed a moderate willingness to sell; steel mills purchased as needed, with few inquiries. The market transac on atmosphere was average. Due to the extended vehicle control period, some steel mills have increased their transporta on of materials from ports to their premises. In Shandong, the mainstream transac on prices for PB fines were around 765-768 yuan/mt, down 2-5 yuan/mt from yesterday; in Tangshan, the transac on prices for PB fines were around 775-780 yuan/mt, down 5 yuan/mt from yesterday. According to an SMM survey, on August 20, the opera ng rate of blast furnaces at 242 steel mills tracked by SMM was 86.27%, down 0.22 percentage points MoM. The daily average hot metal produc on of the sample steel mills was 2.4125 million mt, up 0.02 million mt MoM. This week, domes c blast furnaces mainly resumed produc on. Next week, steel mill produc on will remain rela vely stable, with limited fluctua ons in hot metal output. However, due to environmental protec on driven produc on restric ons for the military parade, some steel mills will gradually schedule maintenance at month-end. According to SMM’s current tracking, overall hot metal produc on is expected to decline significantly, pu ng pressure on iron ore prices and leading to a weak and vola le market.

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Source: Metals Market Index (MMI)