Import iron ore prices for China have fallen further on Monday, August 9, as trading has been silent and futures prices in China have been corrected down as well. The weak July import iron ore data issued recently has put pressure on sentiments as well.
Prices for iron ore fines with 62 percent Fe content have come down to $162.75/mt CFR today, falling by $7.05/mt from Friday, August 6. The ex-Brazil iron ore price level has broken the $200/mt mark, dropping to $195/mt CFR, down by $6.1/mt over the past weekend.
No fresh deals have been reported at trading platforms today, August 9, and trading has also been weak at ports, according to sources.
Iron ore futures at Dalian Commodity Exchange have fallen by 4.4 percent from the level settled on the previous working day on August 6, closing at RMB 852.5/mt ($131.5/mt).
Futures prices have reacted to the weak iron ore import data for last month. In July, China imported 88.506 million mt of iron ore, down 21.4 percent year on year, while down 1.02 percent month on month. And weaker demand for the raw material is going to persist in the coming months, which has put significant pressure on sentiment and the spot price level. Some market sources said that mills in Shanxi and Anhui are cutting crude steel production as they have targets to produce a stable volume for the whole of 2021 compared to 2020.
On August 9, rebar futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at RMB 5,330/mt ($822/mt), down RMB 84/mt ($13/mt) or by 1.55 percent compared to August 2, while down by 0.89 percent from the previous trading day.