The price of iron ore continued to decrease on Friday, as concerns over China’s declining demand persisted.
The daily hot metals output among the 247 steel mills surveyed decreased by 1.3% week over week to 2.41 million tonne in the week as of May 5. According to statistics from consultancy Mysteel, indicating that iron ore demand is still decreasing.
Benchmark 62 percent Fe fines imports into Northern China decreased by 0.7% to reach $101.58 per tonne. Which is the lowest price since November 2022.
After hitting a fresh five-month low of 675.5 yuan per tonne in the morning, the most actively trading September iron ore contracts on the Dalian Commodity Exchange finished the day trading 0.99 percent lower at 697.5 yuan ($100.93) a tonne.
In response to declining profits, “some mills plan to increase equipment maintenance. Which will further cap demands for iron ore in the short term,” analysts at Sinosteel Futures wrote in a report.
We anticipate portside inventories of (iron ore) to progressively enter a process of building up later.