Iron ore futures fell for the fifth straight session on Wednesday as Rio Tinto, the world’s top supplier, reported strong iron ore shipments in its fourth quarter, while concerns over safety inspections weighed on the Chinese market.

The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 0.32% lower at 784 yuan ($112.58) a metric ton.

The benchmark February iron ore (SZZFG6) on the Singapore Exchange lost 0.74% to $103.2 a ton as of 0708 GMT after touching its lowest since December 17 at $103 earlier.

Rio Tinto RIO, RIO reported a 7% rise in fourth-quarter iron ore shipments on Wednesday, aided by record quarterly production from Pilbara operations and strong rail and port outload performance.

An increase in iron ore shipments from Australia to China would exert downward pressure on Chinese iron ore prices.

Meanwhile, concerns about stricter safety supervisions following an explosion at a steel plate factory in China’s northern region of Inner Mongolia stoked fears over feedstocks demand.

Though hot metal output rose 22,800 million tons week-on-week, transaction volumes of iron ore at major ports in China have been sluggish, according to data from Mysteel released January 21.

Overall, sentiment has remained bearish and risk-adverse, with iron ore prices seen facing resistance in the short-term, the Shanghai Metals Market said.

Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE languished, with coking coal NYMEX:ACT1! and coke (DCJcv1) declining 1.83% and 0.59%, respectively.

Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed. Rebar RBF1! shed 0.35% and hot-rolled coil EHR1! loss 0.06%. Meanwhile, wire rod (SWRcv1) gained 0.03% and stainless steel HRC1! added 2.4%.
Source: Reuters