The market has entered a semi-holiday mode, with iron ore prices continuing to be in the doldrums [SMM Brief Review].

Published: Feb 9, 2026 17:22

Save

Today, iron ore futures weakened, with the most-traded contract I2605 settling at 761.5 yuan/mt, down 0.46% from the previous trading day. Spot prices fell 1-3 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Traders' quoting enthusiasm was moderate, mostly following the market trend, while steel mills showed limited inquiries and largely maintained a wait-and-see stance. Overall market trading sentiment was sluggish.
On the fundamental data side, SMM statistics showed total iron ore shipments last week reached 34.8 million mt, up 13.3% WoW. Shipments from mainstream countries such as Australia and Brazil, as well as non-mainstream countries like India, all increased. Meanwhile, SMM statistics indicated China's iron ore port arrivals were 27.63 million mt, down 5.9% WoW.
Looking ahead, although the recent rebound in port pick-up volume coupled with the pullback in port arrivals has led to a phased easing of supply-side pressure, visible port inventory overall continues to fluctuate at highs, with no clear destocking inflection point emerging yet, and the suppressive effect from the inventory side remains. Demand side, as the Chinese New Year approaches, steel mills' restocking activities have largely concluded, raw material procurement pace slowed down, and support for iron ore prices significantly weakened. Additionally, the macro and news fronts are currently in a relative vacuum period, with the market lacking substantial positive drivers. Therefore, in the short term, iron ore prices are expected to struggle to break away from the weak pattern and may continue to fluctuate at lows.

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.

For any inquiries or to learn more information, please contact: lemonzhao@smm.cn

For more information on how to access our research reports, please contact:service.en@smm.cn

Related News

11 mins ago

[SMM Lecong Hot-Rolled Coil Inventory] Lecong's Inventory Buildup Slowed This Week

This week, Lecong's hot-rolled coil inventory stood at 1.0576 million mt, up 17,900 mt WoW, an increase of 1.72%; down 1.46% YoY on a calendar basis and up 2.64% YoY on a lunar calendar basis.

11 mins ago

39 mins ago

[SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review] SS Futures Were in the Doldrums, While Spot Stainless Steel Held Steady, with Rigid Demand Dominating

[SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review] SS Futures Were in the Doldrums, While Spot Stainless Steel Held Steady with Just-in-Time Procurement Dominating SMM News on March 11: SS futures showed a weak fluctuating trend. Since March, they had continued to move sideways in the 14,000-14,400 range. Affected by the continued escalation of geopolitical conflicts, SS futures extended their fluctuating trend, closing at 14,210 yuan/mt by the midday session. In the spot market, driven by the sideways movement in futures, spot traders' quotations generally held steady. Downstream end-users mainly made just-in-time procurement, while the earlier bullish sentiment had been fully exhausted, leaving insufficient willingness for advance purchases and stockpiling. However, as the traditional peak season gradually approaches, fundamental demand can still be maintained, and market participants expect stainless steel prices to remain strongly supported by costs within the month. The most-traded SS futures contract fluctuated downward. As of 10:15 a.m., SS2604 was quoted at 14,105 yuan/mt, down 190 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. Spot premiums for 304/2B in Wuxi stood in the 400-600 yuan/mt range. In the spot market, cold-rolled 201/2B coils in Wuxi all held steady; for cold-rolled burr-edge 304/2B coils, average prices in both Wuxi and Foshan held steady; cold-rolled 316L/2B coils in Wuxi held steady; for hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coils, Wuxi quotations held steady; and cold-rolled 430/2B coils in both Wuxi and Foshan held steady. As the market entered the traditional peak consumption season of "Golden March and Silver April," the stainless steel market ushered in a window for demand recovery. The downstream demand side successively resumed work and production after the Chinese New Year holiday, and demand showed a gradual recovery trend. However, although transactions improved from the previous period, the market had yet to show the brisk activity typical of the peak season, ...

39 mins ago

58 mins ago

[SMM Daily Chromium Review] Prices Moved Upward, Chromium Market Remained Firm and Stable

[SMM Daily Chrome Review: Prices Moved Higher, Chrome Market Remained Firm and Stable] March 11, 2026: Quotations for both ferrochrome and chrome ore rose slightly...

58 mins ago