Today, the iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange were in the doldrums, with the most-traded I2601 contract closing at 796, down slightly by 0.31% from the previous trading day. Traders showed moderate enthusiasm for selling; most steel mills were cautious and observing, while some mills made purchases at lower prices. The market transaction atmosphere was moderate. In Shandong, mainstream transaction prices for PB fines ranged from 790-793 yuan/mt, a drop of 2-3 yuan/mt WoW; in Tangshan, PB fines transaction prices were 795-805 yuan/mt, basically stable WoW. Last week, global SMM iron ore shipments totaled 33.74 million mt, down 720,000 mt MoM. Shipments from Australia and non-mainstream countries dropped back slightly, while Brazilian shipments, unaffected by the previous port fire, rebounded slightly MoM. During the same period, total arrivals in China amounted to 26.04 million mt, down 2.45 million mt MoM, a decrease of 8.6%. The short-term supply contraction supported ore prices. However, rumors of an iron ore conference on the 18th sparked risk aversion, puƫng ore prices under pressure. Nevertheless, with hot metal production continuously rising and pre-holiday stockpiling gradually starting, the rigid demand for iron ore still supports price stabilizaƟon and rebound. Additionally, as expectaƟons for US Fed interest rate cuts draw near, market sentiment is becoming more optimistic, which could also drive ore prices to rise again.

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Source: Metals Market Index (MMI)