Today, Dalian iron ore futures rose sharply, with the most-traded I2601 contract closing at 787, up 2.27% from last Friday. Traders’ enthusiasm for quoting prices was moderate; steel mills were cautious and mainly purchasing as needed. The market transaction atmosphere was average. In Shandong, mainstream transaction prices for PB fines were around 781-785 yuan/mt, up 15-16 yuan/mt from last Friday; in Tangshan, PB fines transaction prices were around 790-795 yuan/mt, up 15 yuan/mt from last Friday
Last week, SMM’s global iron ore shipments totaled 35.76 million mt, up 6.9% MoM. Among them, Australia’s shipments saw a slight rebound; Brazil’s shipments pulled back slightly; non-mainstream countries’ total shipments increased, with South Africa and India seeing growth, while Peru and Iran experienced declines. SMM’s China iron ore arrivals totaled 27.39 million mt, down 1.89 million mt MoM. The continuous growth in iron ore supply put pressure on prices. However, news of an accident-induced shutdown at the Simandou mine over the weekend sparked pessimistic expectations about future supply increases, providing bullish support to ore prices. Meanwhile, as September approaches, expectations for US Fed interest rate cuts have heated up, further driving the sharp rise in ore prices. Nevertheless, considering the constraints of environmental protection-driven production restriction policies, it is expected that ore prices will continue to fluctuate rangebound this week, with limited upside potential.

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Source: Metals Market Index (MMI)