Today, iron ore prices opened higher but showed a volatile weakening trend during the session. The main contract I2605 closed at 813 yuan/ton, up 0.06% from the previous trading session. Spot prices remained largely stable compared to the previous trading day. Traders showed subdued pricing initiative, while steel mills made few inquiries; spot market transactions have been limited so far. According to SMM shipping data, iron ore supply has tightened this week, with global total shipments decreasing by 14.8% month-on-month due to the impact of a cyclone in Australia, bringing total shipments to 28.66 million tons. In contrast, China’s iron ore arrivals fell by 1.5% month-on-month to 26.74 million tons. Meanwhile, structural differentiation persists in port inventories, with high-grade fines experiencing a clear destocking trend, while the destocking trend for lump ore has slowed. Overall, the tightening supply, coupled with steady growth in demand, has provided strong support for iron ore prices this week. However, as the impact of weather factors on shipments diminishes and iron ore redirected from the Middle East flows into China, the supply side is expected to remain relatively loose in the future. Therefore, iron ore prices are likely to maintain a high-level volatile trend this week.

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Source: Metals Market Index (MMI)