Iron ore demand rebounds steadily, while futures trend weak [SMM Iron Ore Daily Review]

Published: Sep 2, 2026 17:13

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Iron ore futures trended weaker today. The most-traded DCE I2701 contract closed at 714 yuan/mt, down 1.11% from the previous trading day. Spot prices at Qingdao Port fell by around 10-13 yuan/mt in tandem. The pullback in futures dragged spot quotes lower, while steel mills showed stronger willingness to restock at lower prices, lifting overall trading activity slightly.

This week's SMM survey data showed blast furnace capacity utilization rate at 88.88%, up 0.47 percentage point WoW. Daily average hot metal production at sampled steel mills stood at 2.408 million mt, up 12,700 mt WoW. Supported by a mild recovery in overseas steel demand, iron ore demand improved marginally, providing solid support to ore prices at the bottom. Although coke market conditions continued to dominate market sentiment in the near term, there were no signs yet of steel mills cutting production due to tight coke supply. Overall, iron ore prices are likely to maintain a pattern of a rising bottom and drifting higher in the short term. [SMM Steel]

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