Iron Ore Prices Slump Following Tightening Regulatory Supervision And Futures Trading Constraints

Published: Nov 16, 2023 11:40

Source: SMM

Save

Iron ore futures prices slumped 2.91% overnight and extended its rout into today’s morning session, losing 3.11% as of CST 9:31 on November 16.

Iron ore futures prices slumped 2.91% overnight and extended its rout into today’s morning session, losing 3.11% as of CST 9:31 on November 16. The decline came after the National Development and Reform Commission said last night that it will send officials to the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) to jointly study on how to enhance supervision on the iron ore market in response to recent irrational price spike. Meanwhile, the DCE also issued a risk management measure last night, stipulating that starting from the trading time on November 17, 2023 (that is, the night trading session on November 16), non-futures company members or customers are not allowed to open more than 500 lots of positions on the iron ore futures I2401, I2402, I2403, I2404 and I2405 contracts in a single day, and the number of newly opened positions in other iron ore futures contracts shall not exceed 2,000 lots in a single day. Moreover, starting from the settlement on November 20, 2023, the margin level for speculative trading of iron ore futures contracts will be adjusted from 13% to 15%.

Market review

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

For any inquiries or to learn more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn

Related News

Mar 27, 2026 18:45

Ferrous Metals May Continue Trading at Elevated Levels in the Short Term [SMM Steel Industry Chain Weekly Report]

This week, ferrous metals retreated after a rapid rise. At the beginning of the week, the market said that Asia had shifted to coal-fired power generation due to a natural gas supply deficit, while Indonesia would increase coal production and impose export taxes. The rise in international coal prices was transmitted to China, and coking coal and coke led the gains in ferrous metals; mid-week, the Middle East situation remained volatile, and the U.S. and Iran held differing attitudes toward war, with ferrous metals consolidating at high levels; the pullback in the second half of the week was also mainly due to the weakening of the cost-side logic, as market rumors said long-term iron ore contract negotiations had been completed, expectations for tightening iron ore supply declined, and raw materials turned into the main driver of the pullback. In the spot market, speculative trading and end-user purchase sentiment improved in the first half of the week, while rigid demand remained dominant in the second half, and the spot-futures price spread widened somewhat......

Mar 27, 2026 18:45

Mar 27, 2026 18:26

Centralized Production Resumptions Conclude, Limiting Further Supply Increases from EAF Steel Mills

As of March 24, the operating rate of 50 electric-furnace steel mills nationwide mainly producing construction materials was 40.42%, up 1.78% WoW from the previous period; the capacity utilization rate was 41.75%, up 1.88% WoW from the previous period; and daily average production of construction materials was 93,000 mt, up 4,200 mt WoW.

Mar 27, 2026 18:26

Mar 27, 2026 18:11

MMi Daily Iron Ore Report (March 27)

The iron ore futures rose in early trading before gradually retreating during the day. The main contract I2605 ultimately closed at 812 yuan/ton, down 0.49% from the previous trading session.

Mar 27, 2026 18:11