Hedging Sentiment Before the Holiday Led to a Decline in Open Interest, Iron Ore Prices Continued to Edge Down [SMM Brief Review]

Today, the most-traded iron ore futures contract moved in the doldrums. The most-traded contract I2601 finally closed at 784, down 1.57% from the previous trading day. Traders showed relatively low enthusiasm for selling; steel mills, having completed restocking, adopted a cautious wait-and-see approach, with weak purchase willingness. Market transaction sentiment was sluggish. In the Shandong region, the mainstream transaction prices for old PB fines were around 780 yuan/mt, down 0-3 yuan/mt from the previous day; in the Tangshan region, PB fines transaction prices were 785-790 yuan/mt, basically stable compared to the previous day.

Last week, SMM global iron ore shipments totaled 36.1 million mt, down 1.56 million mt WoW, a slight decrease of 4.1%; the reduction was mainly due to lower shipments from Australia and Brazil, while shipments from non-mainstream mines increased slightly. SMM China iron ore arrivals totaled 27.51 million mt, up 3.54 million mt WoW, an increase of nearly 15%. Pre-holiday risk aversion sentiment intensified, iron ore open interest declined, price fluctuations were relatively small, and the short-term trend may maintain a sideways movement.