SMM daily comment on imported iron ore market (Aug 28)

SHANGHAI, Aug 29 (SMM) –

The most-traded DCE 2401 iron ore contract closed down 0.85% at 812.5 yuan/mt yesterday. Iron ore traders were not enthusiastic about selling and most steel mills purchased in accordance with rigid demand. The overall transaction atmosphere was average yesterday. The transaction prices of PB fines were 885-886 yuan/mt in Shandong, down 7-9 yuan/mt compared with last week, and were 890 yuan /mt in Hebei, down 3 yuan/mt WoW. The stamp duty on securities transactions will be halved, effective immediately, boosting market expectations and driving iron ore futures to open higher. But subsequent changes in market sentiment dragged prices down. In terms of iron ore supply, the global iron ore shipment last week was 29.93 million mt, a weekly decrease of 7.2%. The arrival volume was 24.6601 million mt, a weekly decrease of 10.85%. Although the output of molten iron may drop due to the temporary maintenance of some blast furnaces, the rigid demand for iron ore was still at a relatively high level since the impact duration was short. On the whole, the basic pattern of iron ore market was basically unchanged. Affected by speculative activity, iron ore prices are expected to fluctuate in a wide range.