Today, the iron ore futures market opened weak but then strengthened, with the most-traded contract I2601 closing at 805, up 0.25% slightly from the previous trading day. Traders sold goods in line with market conditions; steel mills gradually accepted higher prices and purchased as needed. The overall market trading atmosphere was moderate. In the Shandong region, the mainstream transaction prices for PB fines were 795-800 yuan/mt, flat from yesterday’s prices; in the Tangshan region, transaction prices for PB fines were around 800-810 yuan/mt, also flat from yesterday. According to an SMM survey, as of September 10, the blast furnace operating rate at 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 86.16%, up 1.15 percentage points MoM. The daily average hot metal production at the sampled steel mills was 2.3929 million mt, up 44,000 mt MoM. With the conclusion of the parade event, blast furnaces undergoing maintenance in the Tangshan region of Hebei gradually resumed production. Although some regional steel mills scheduled annual maintenance, the overall upward trend in hot metal production was relatively evident. Hot metal production is expected to conƟnue its upward trend next week. In the short term, demand provides some support for ore prices, and the market is likely to maintain a relatively strong, rangebound fluctuation pattern.

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Source: Metals Market Index (MMI)