The impact from maintenance on blast furnaces continues to increase, and iron ore prices remain in the doldrums [SMM Brief Review]

Today, the most-traded iron ore futures contract continued to fluctuate rangebound, with the most-traded contract I2605 finally settling at 757.5, down 0.72% from the previous working day. Traders sold goods following market trends; steel mills purchased as needed, with moderate purchase willingness. The overall market transaction atmosphere was average. In Shandong, the transaction price for PB fines was 778-783 yuan/mt, down 0-3 yuan/mt from yesterday's price; in Hebei, the transaction price for PB fines was 785-790 yuan/mt, down 0-3 yuan/mt from yesterday's price.
According to SMM statistics, this week (December 6 to December 12), the impact from blast furnace maintenance on hot metal production was 1.666 million mt, up 121,000 mt WoW. Next week (December 13 to December 19), the impact from blast furnace maintenance on hot metal production is expected to be 1.7156 million mt, an increase of 49,600 mt WoW from this week. Hot metal production this week may drop to the monthly low. Fundamentals weakened further, putting ore prices under pressure. The US Fed's interest rate cut is expected to be implemented tomorrow, which may cause interference to ore prices, but in the short term, ore prices are likely to maintain a narrow rangebound fluctuation.