Iron ore futures stabilized and rebounded today, holding up well throughout the session. The most-traded contract I2601 closed at 774 yuan, up 1.38% slightly from the previous working day. Spot cargo prices at ports rose 5-10 yuan/mt from the previous working day, with PB fines transac on prices in Shandong at 780-781 yuan/mt, up 5-8 yuan/mt from yesterday, and PB fines transac on prices in Hebei at 790-793 yuan/mt, up 8-10 yuan/mt from yesterday. According to the SMM survey, on November 12, the blast furnace opera ng rate among 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 86.64%, up 0.24 percentage point MoM. Daily average hot metal produc on at sampled steel mills stood at 2.3977 million mt, up 4,900 mt MoM. This week, the number of blast furnaces resuming produc on exceeded those undergoing maintenance. Hot metal output remained high, providing some support to ore prices. However, next week, the number of blast furnaces under maintenance is expected to increase, and the decline in hot metal produc on is likely to widen, leading to a significant reduc on in overall iron ore demand. Meanwhile, the Simandou iron ore project officially commenced produc on yesterday, with the first shipment set to depart for China, increasing overall supply pressure on iron ore in the future. Medium and long-term, iron ore prices remain bearish.

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Source: Metals Market Index (MMI)