Iron ore futures held up well today, with the most-traded contract I2601 closing at 804.5, down 0.12% from the previous trading day. Traders showed moderate willingness to sell, while steel mills mainly purchased as needed. Market trading senment was moderate. In Shandong, mainstream transac on prices for PB fines were around 795-798 yuan/mt, up 0-3 yuan/mt from yesterday; in Tangshan, transac on prices for PB fines were 800-810 yuan/mt, flat from yesterday. According to an SMM survey, on September 17, the blast furnace opera ng rate at 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM stood at 86.38%, up 0.22 percentage points MoM. Daily average hot metal produc on at the sampled steel mills was 2.3983 million mt, up 5,400 mt MoM. Currently, steel mill profits are shrinking, and some enterprises are showing increased willingness to conduct maintenance, leading to a gradual rise in the number of blast furnaces under maintenance. This resulted in a lower-than-expected overall increase in hot metal produc on this week. However, iron ore demand remains rela vely resilient, providing support for spot iron ore prices. Addi onally, the US Fed is expected to cut interest rates soon, and market expecta ons for China’s future monetary policy are strong. Ore prices are expected to hover at highs in the short term.

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Source: Metals Market Index (MMI)