Fundamentals Improvement Fails to Support Prices, Iron Ore Prices Fluctuate at Lows [SMM Brief Review]

Published: Feb 10, 2026 17:32

Save

Iron ore futures fluctuated during the morning session today, rising first then falling in the afternoon. The most-traded contract I2605 finally settled at 761.5 yuan/mt, unchanged from the previous trading day. Spot prices increased by 2-8 yuan/mt compared to the previous trading day. Traders showed moderate enthusiasm in offering prices, while steel mills mainly purchased based on rigid demand, with limited inquiries. Overall market trading activity was moderate.

Looking ahead, this week's hot metal production affected by maintenance fell by 169,100 mt WoW, driving the daily average hot metal output to stabilize and rebound, indicating a substantial improvement in the rigid demand for iron ore. However, the market still faces inventory pressure, as both port visible inventory and steel mill in-factory inventory remain at high levels. Ample inventory levels effectively buffer raw material procurement demand, causing a noticeable lag in the transmission of incremental rigid demand to the spot market. Considering these factors, against the backdrop of unresolved inventory pressure and relatively slow demand release pace, iron ore prices are expected to struggle with forming a unilateral breakthrough in the short term and are likely to continue fluctuating at lows.

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

12 hours ago

Vietnam Imposes 27.83% Temporary Tariff on Certain Chinese Hot-Rolled Steel Products

On April 2, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Decision No. 612/QD-BCT, imposing a temporary anti-circumvention tariff of up to 27.83% on certain hot-rolled steel products from China. The measure applies to specific flat-rolled steel products (alloy or non-alloy), with thicknesses of 1.2–25.4mm and widths between 1,880mm and 2,300mm, that have not been further processed beyond hot rolling.

12 hours ago

Risks in the Ferrous Metals Sector Began to Accumulate [SMM Steel Industry Chain Weekly Report]

This week, ferrous metals were in the doldrums. The main logic during the week remained weakening cost support. On Tuesday, Iran proposed charging transit fees for the Strait of Hormuz, while Trump made conciliatory remarks, saying that “even if the Strait of Hormuz remained largely closed, he would still be willing to end military action against Iran.” Market expectations for tighter crude oil supply weakened, and declines in the energy sector dragged down the coal sector, weakening the cost-side logic. During the week, inventories of the five major steel products continued to decline, but apparent demand remained at a low level for the same period in previous years, providing limited fundamental-driven momentum to futures. In the spot market, purchasing interest was average, mainly focused on restocking at low prices. Spot prices were relatively firm, and the spot-futures price spread widened somewhat......

12 hours ago

MMi Daily Iron Ore Report (April 3)

Today, the DCE iron ore fluctuated in the doldrums, with the most-traded contract I2605 eventually closing at 799.5 yuan/mt, down 0.50% from the previous trading session. Spot prices fell by about 2-5 yuan from the previous trading day. Traders were moderately active in offering quotes, while steel mills mainly restocked to meet rigid demand; as of now, spot market transactions were mediocre.

12 hours ago