Dalian iron ore futures weakened slightly today, with the main contract I2605 eventually closing at 778.5, a marginal decrease of 0.26% compared to the previous working day. Traders offloaded cargoes at prevailing market rates, while steel mills maintained hand-to-mouth procurement. Overall trading sentiment was moderate. In the spot market, transaction prices for PB Fines in the Shandong region were recorded at 787–792 CNY/tonne, a slight dip of 0–3 CNY/tonne against yesterday’s levels. In the Hebei region, PB Fines traded at 802–810 CNY/tonne, also sotiening by 0–3 CNY/tonne compared to the previous day. According to SMM statistics, for the current week (20 December to 26 December), the impact on hot metal production due to blast furnace maintenance stands at 1.9147 million tonnes, remaining largely stable compared to the impact recorded last week. Hot metal output continues to operate at low levels. While the specific fundamentals of iron ore have shown litile change, the industry is currently in the off-season. The con????nued weakening of overall steel demand is acting as a drag on ore prices. In the short term, iron ore is expected to persist in its rangebound trend.

Download PDF

Source: Metals Market Index (MMI)