The iron ore futures trading volume in China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) jumped to a record high in July this year, though prices were characterized by severe volatility.
In July this year, iron ore trading volume amounted to 32.40 million hands (one hand = 100 mt), exceeding the previous record of 24.90 million hands in May this year. The trading volume recorded for July is equivalent to 3.2 billion mt of iron ore and is more than double the global seaborne iron ore trading volume for a whole year.
In July, spot iron ore prices indicated sharp declines and rises, falling to $44.10/mt, their lowest level of the past 10 years, in early July and rising to $55/mt three weeks later.
In recent times, spot iron ore prices have mostly been following the trend of iron ore futures, the prices of which in July moved from a low point of RMB 317.5/mt ($51.2/mt) to their highest level of RMB 374.5/mt ($60.4/mt).