Iron Ore Prices Continue to Weaken, Market Transactions Remain Sluggish [SMM Brief Review]

Today, DCE iron ore continued its pre-holiday weakness, with the most-traded contract I2605 closing at 740.5 yuan/mt, down 1.79% from the previous trading day. Spot prices fell 5–8 yuan/mt compared to the previous trading day. Traders showed limited enthusiasm in offering prices, while steel mills remained cautious and watchful. Overall market trading activity was sluggish, with few transactions concluded.

Last week, SMM global iron ore shipments totaled 32.29 million mt, up 8.83 million mt WoW, an increase of 37.6%. During the current week, Australia saw a significant increase in shipments; Brazil recorded a slight rise; non-mainstream countries experienced a modest overall decline in shipments. SMM China iron ore arrivals reached 27.75 million mt, up 3.12 million mt WoW, an increase of 12.6%. Seasonal disruptions were relatively small, and overall iron ore supply remained relatively ample. However, on the demand side, an accident at a steel mill during the holiday led to a full shutdown of blast furnaces for maintenance. Although some steel mills had restocking needs after the holiday, downstream operations had not yet resumed, resulting in weak purchase willingness among mills and limited support for spot prices. Going forward, attention will be on the pace of downstream end-user production resumptions and the impact of the Two Sessions on market sentiment. Iron ore prices are expected to continue fluctuating at lows this week.