Iron ore futures fluctuated rangebound in the morning session and rose in the afternoon before weakening again. The most-traded contract I2601 closed at 803.5, flat from the previous trading day. Traders sold at market prices; some steel mills completed restocking, resulting in fewer inquiries compared to yesterday. Market transaction sentiment was moderate. In Shandong, mainstream transaction prices for old-grade PB fines were around 795 yuan/mt, while new-grade PB fines traded around 785 yuan/mt, both unchanged from yesterday. In Tangshan, PB fines traded at 795-805 yuan/mt, down 0-5 yuan/mt from yesterday. According to an SMM survey, as of September 24, the blast furnace operating rate across 242 steel mills stood at 87.05%, up 0.67 percentage points MoM. Daily average hot metal production at the sampled steel mills reached 2.4157 million mt, up 17,400 mt MoM. This week, one blast furnace underwent maintenance while six resumed production. By the end of the week, most idled blast furnaces in Hebei had resumed operations. Market focus will shift to the impact of month-end environmental protection- driven production restrictions on hot metal output. Overall, high hot metal production continues to support ore prices; however, considering most steel mills have completed pre-holiday stockpiling and the macro environment has entered a quiet period in the short term, support for ore prices may marginally weaken, with prices likely to fluctuate at highs in the near term.

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Source: Metals Market Index (MMI)