DCE iron ore futures moved in the doldrums today. The most-traded contract I2601 closed at 784, down 1.57% from the previous trading day. Traders showed low mo va on to sell; steel mills had completed restocking and adopted a cau ous wait-and-see stance, with weak purchase willingness. Market transac ons were sluggish. In Shandong, mainstream transac on prices for old spec PB fines were around 780 yuan/mt, down 0–3 yuan/mt from the previous day; in Tangshan, PB fines traded at 785–790 yuan/mt, basically stable compared with the previous day. Last week, SMM global iron ore shipments totaled 36.1 million mt, down 1.56 million mt WoW, a slight decrease of 4.1%. The decline was mainly due to reduced shipments from Australia and Brazil, while shipments from non-mainstream mines increased slightly. SMM iron ore arrivals in China amounted to 27.51 million mt, up 3.54 million mt WoW, an increase of nearly 15%. Pre-holiday risk aversion senment intensified, iron ore open interest declined, price fluctua ons were rela vely small, and the short-term trend may maintain a sideways movement.

Download PDF

Source: Metals Market Index (MMI)