Continuous Sharp Decline in Iron Ore for Two Consecutive Days, Relatively Small Downward Space for Iron Ore Prices [SMM Brief Review]

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Today, Dalian iron ore futures continued to decline. The most-traded I2505 contract closed at 751.5 yuan/mt, down 2.21% for the day. Traders showed weak willingness to sell. Steel mills were cautious in purchasing, opting to purchase as needed. Today's trading sentiment was average. In Shandong, the mainstream transaction prices for PB fines were around 753-755 yuan/mt, down 10-15 yuan/mt from last Friday; in Tangshan, PB fines were traded at 770 yuan/mt, down 10 yuan/mt from last Friday. This week, SMM's global iron ore shipments totaled 32.08 million mt, down 7.7% WoW. Among them, shipments from Australia reached 18 million mt, down 7.7% WoW; shipments from Australia to China were 12.88 million mt, accounting for 71.6% of Australia's total shipments, down 16.8% WoW. Shipments from Brazil were 7.62 million mt, down 5.2% WoW. This week, shipments from Australia to China saw a significant decline, while Brazil's share of shipments to China increased substantially. Overall, the supply of imported ore decreased, easing supply pressure. Considering the current pre-holiday restocking activities and the rebound in pig iron production, ore prices received some support. The downward space for iron ore is expected to be relatively small.