Today, DCE iron ore futures weakened in the morning but surged significantly in the afternoon. The most-traded contract I2509 closed at 722.5, up 1.69% for the day. Traders were actively selling their goods. Steel mills’ wait-and-see sentiment intensified, with inquiry volumes decreasing compared to yesterday. The market transaction atmosphere was average. In the Shandong region, the mainstream transaction prices of PB fines were around 710-715 yuan/mt, up 5-10 yuan/mt from yesterday. In the Tangshan region, the transaction prices of PB fines were around 720-728 yuan/mt, also up 5-10 yuan/mt from yesterday.
According to the SMM survey, on July 2, the operating rate of blast furnaces at 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 87.54%, down 0.42 percentage points MoM. The daily average pig iron production of the sampled steel mills was 2.4137 million mt, down 4,200 mt MoM. Although news of environmental protection-driven production restrictions emerged yesterday, implementation has been minimal. Steel mills, enjoying

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Source: Metals Market Index (MMI)