Rising maintenance losses outweigh talk of coke price cuts [SMM Daily Iron Ore Brief]

Published: Sep 29, 2026 17:09 (GMT+8)

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Iron ore futures were weaker today. The DCE most-traded I2701 contract settled at 699 yuan/mt, down 0.78% from the previous session. In the spot market, traders were reluctant to offer and mills stayed on the sidelines. Spot trading was thin, with Qingdao port prices down 0-3 yuan/mt.

Iron ore demand remains weak. SMM data showed hot metal output lost to blast furnace maintenance at 1.6288 million mt this week (26 September to 2 October), up 35,800 mt week on week. The figure is expected to rise further to 1.6839 million mt next week (3 to 9 October), up 55,100 mt.

On the news front, market talk points to a first round of coke price cuts, expected to take effect in early October. That would ease cost pressure on mills and could loosen the constraint that has been weighing on iron ore procurement. With iron ore still lacking bullish drivers, however, prices are likely to stay soft within a range in the near term.[SMM Steel]

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