Global Shipments Increased Slightly, Iron Ore Prices Continued to Fluctuate Downward [SMM Brief Review]

Today, the iron ore futures continued to decline weakly. The most-traded contract I2505 finally closed at 773, with a daily drop of 1.47%. Traders' willingness to sell was poor; steel mills were mainly cautious and watchful, with a moderate purchase willingness; the market transaction atmosphere was relatively moderate. Mainstream transaction prices fell by 10 yuan/mt WoW; SMM's global iron ore shipment volume was 33.51 million mt, up slightly by 4.4% MoM. SMM's China iron ore arrival volume was 26.98 million mt, down slightly by 7.5% MoM, up 15.8% YoY. Shipments have returned to seasonal normal levels. Supply remains loose. In addition, today's news about steel exports has caused some disturbance to futures prices, and with tariffs expected to be imposed soon, market watchfulness and risk aversion sentiment have increased, negatively impacting the futures market. However, steel mills still have profits recently, and pig iron production still has room for growth, which supports ore prices and makes it difficult to form a significant downward trend. It is expected that the market will continue to fluctuate downward tomorrow...