Iron-ore futures prices fell on Wednesday, as shipments of the key steelmaking ingredient from major suppliers surged and US President Donald Trump agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran.
The most-traded iron-ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) DCIOcv1 slid 1.12% to 791.5 yuan ($115.87) a metric ton, as of 02:12 GMT. It touched its lowest since March 12 at 789.5 yuan earlier in the session.
The benchmark May iron ore SZZFK6 on the Singapore Exchange was down 0.87% at $105.75 a ton, as of 02:02 GMT.
Iron-ore shipments from major suppliers Australia and Brazil jumped by 30.5% week-on-week to 24.48-million tons as of April 7, data from consultancy Mysteel showed, as weather-related supply disruptions in Australia waned.
“High shipments and portside stocks, coupled with expectations that it’s hard to see downstream steel consumption to improve materially, pressured ore prices,” analysts at broker Galaxy Futures said in a note.
Rio Tinto said last month that operations at three of Rio’s four Pilbara iron-ore port terminals have resumed following Tropical Cyclone Narelle.
Two tropical cyclones in February and March are estimated to have affected the firm’s iron-ore shipments by around eight-million tons, according to Rio.
Additionally, Trump’s announcement on social media represented an abrupt turnaround from earlier in the day, sending oil prices plunging and temporarily easing supply jitters and inflation fears.
Other steelmaking ingredients were mixed, with coking coal DJMcv1 up 0.32%and coke DCJcv1 ticking down 0.03%, respectively.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were largely weaker. Rebar SRBcv1 shed 0.38%, hot-rolled coil SHHCcv1 dipped 0.21%, wire rod SWRcv1 slipped 1.03% while stainless steel SHSScv1 added 0.35%.