Pig iron production continued to increase, iron ore prices fluctuated upward [SMM Brief Review]

Today, the iron ore futures gradually strengthened after a weak start, fluctuating upward throughout the day. The most-traded contract I2505 finally closed at 780, with a daily increase of 0.19%. Traders sold goods according to market conditions, while steel mills purchased as needed. The market trading atmosphere was moderate. In Shandong, the mainstream transaction prices for PB fines were 775-778 yuan/mt, up 0-3 yuan/mt from yesterday. In Tangshan, the transaction prices for PB fines were around 785-790 yuan/mt, up 5 yuan/mt from yesterday.

According to the SMM survey, on March 26, the blast furnace operating rate of 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 87.47%, up 0.22 percentage points MoM. The daily average pig iron production of the sampled steel mills was 2.4085 million mt, up 17,600 mt MoM. During this period, there were no new blast furnace maintenance, and 5 blast furnaces resumed production. Looking ahead to the next period, pig iron production is still expected to grow, and the overall demand for iron ore continues to increase, providing some support for ore prices. Attention should be paid to the impact of tomorrow's steel demand and inventory data on ore prices.

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