SMM daily comment on imported iron ore market (Aug 22)

The most-traded DCE 2401 iron ore contract closed up 4.47% at 805.5 yuan/mt on August 22. The quotations of some traders were still firm and the wait-and-see sentiment of steel mills increased, so the willingness to purchase weakened again. Today’s overall market transaction atmosphere is average. PB fines prices in Shandong were mostly 873-900 yuan/mt /mt, up 3-30 yuan/mt compared with yesterday. Recently, accidents in coal mines occurred frequently, causing many large mines to stop production. Coupled with slow production resumption, coal inventories were low. Recently, molten iron output growth boosted coking coal and coke prices, further pulling the whole ferrous metal prices to rise. Besides, iron ore prices soared in the afternoon fueled by the macro expectations and policy stimulus. It is expected that the short-term iron ore price will fluctuate at a high level.