Iron ore prices may hover around low levels amid impact of more seasonal factors

Published: Feb 26, 2024 10:42

Source: SMM

Save

Iron ore market swung on a bearish note last week.

Iron ore market swung on a bearish note last week. The holidays had little impact on iron ore supply, with high shipments and port arrivals, while slumping demand during the holidays made a big dent in shipments from ports. Therefore, iron ore stocks at the ports piled up rapidly. In addition, rain and snow in many places of China slowed down restart of terminal sectors, adding higher inventory pressure on steel mills, thereby leading to maintenance of more BFs. Therefore, falling pig iron production gently scaled back iron ore demand. Moreover, market sentiment was bearish. Iron ore prices kept dropping. In terms of spot prices at ports, spot prices of PB fines in Shandong dropped by 21 yuan/mt from pre-holiday level.

Looking at this week, overseas shipments may tick down amid fallout of hurricanes in Western Australia and heavy rains in Brazil, but port arrivals may still remain high. According to maintenance of BFs tracked by SMM, planned restart of some BFs will leave pig iron output with a small uptick. Moreover, most steel mills who had mainly consumed inventory will have more replenishing demand. Under this circumstance, iron ore prices may remain low, given slack seasonal demand and bearish market sentiment.

Market forecast 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 13, 2026 18:30

Strong Cost Support Remained; Ferrous Metals May Hold Up Well in the Short Term [SMM Steel Industry Chain Weekly Report]

This week, ferrous metals rebounded from the bottom. At the start of the week, coking coal and coke led the futures higher, mainly driven by rising crude oil prices in the overseas market, which pushed the energy and chemicals sector stronger accordingly; mid-week, both the U.S. and Iran signaled a more relaxed stance toward war, easing geopolitical tensions, while coal prices fell in tandem, weakening the cost-side logic, and ferrous metals fluctuated at highs; in the latter half of the week, worsening short-term liquidity issues in BHP's iron ore port inventory triggered stronger iron ore prices in the overseas market, while the Middle East situation remained volatile, reinforcing cost support and pushing ferrous metals higher again. In the spot market, supported by futures, end-user and arbitrage purchase sentiment both improved WoW this week......

Mar 13, 2026 18:30

Mar 13, 2026 18:14

[SMM Daily HRC Trading Volume] Futures Hovered at Highs, Spot Trading Changed Relatively Little

[SMM Daily HRC Trading Volume] On March 13, the total daily HRC trading volume of sample enterprises in SMM's four cities (Shanghai, Lecong, Tianjin, Ningbo) was 15,910 mt, down 40 mt day on day (-0.3%), down 11.27% YoY on a calendar basis, and up 12.20% YoY on a lunar calendar basis.

Mar 13, 2026 18:14

Mar 13, 2026 17:59

MMi Daily Iron Ore Report (March 13)

The continuous iron ore contract opened with a gap up today, showing strength in the early morning but weakening in the afternoon. The main contract, I2605, eventually closed at 811.5 CNY/ton, up 2.33% from the previous trading session.

Mar 13, 2026 17:59