The intense tug-of-war between longs and shorts drives iron ore prices to edge up! [SMM Daily Review on Imported Ore]

Published: Jun 26, 2026 17:28

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DCE iron ore futures traded on a strong note today before pulling back slightly near the close, with the most-traded I2609 contract finally closing at 748 yuan/mt, up 0.81% from the previous trading session. Port spot prices rose 8-11 yuan/mt from the day before. Traders were moderately active in offering quotes, while steel mills maintained a strong wait-and-see attitude. Spot trading volume has been moderate so far.

Looking ahead, according to the SMM survey, port data for iron ore this period showed slight destocking, with total inventory reaching 148.66 million mt, down 690,000 mt MoM, while port pick-up volume edged down 38,000 mt to 3.23 million mt. The destocking was mainly driven by lower port arrivals. Overall, the iron ore supply side remained ample. On the news front, market rumors were frequent, and the tug-of-war between longs and shorts was intense, with no clear divergence emerging yet. With fundamentals and sentiment intertwined, iron ore prices are likely to continue moving sideways in the short term.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM's internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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