Macro sentiment cools down, iron ore prices drop slightly [SMM Commentary]

Today, Dalian iron ore futures pulled back from highs, with the most-traded contract I2509 closing at 812, down 0.61% for the day. Traders' willingness to sell was average. Steel mills purchased as needed. The market transaction sentiment weakened. The mainstream transaction prices of PB fines in the Shandong region were around 788 yuan/mt, down 10 yuan/mt from yesterday's price; the transaction prices of PB fines in the Tangshan region were around 800-805 yuan/mt, down 5-10 yuan/mt from yesterday's price. According to the SMM survey, on July 23, the of 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 86.90%, down 0.11 percentage points MoM. The daily average hot metal production of the sampled steel mills was 2.4211 million mt, down 0.21 million mt MoM. In the short term, hot metal production is expected to fluctuate rangebound, providing some support for ore prices. However, macro sentiment has cooled somewhat, leading to a decline in ore prices today. Pay attention to the impact of tomorrow's industrial data and the content of the Political Bureau meeting on prices.