Iron-ore posts steepest daily fall in nearly two years
Iron-ore futures prices posted their biggest daily fall in nearly two years on Wednesday, weighed down by prospects of stronger global supply and weakening Chinese steel demand.
The most-traded January iron-ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) DCIOcv1 ended daytime trade 4.12% lower at 675.0 yuan ($95.13) a metric ton, marking its steepest daily fall since October 31, 2022. Chinese markets were closed on Monday and Tuesday for a holiday.
The benchmark October iron-ore SZZFV4 on the Singapore Exchange was 1.85% lower at $90.50 a ton, as of 0723 GMT.
Goldman Sachs on Monday cut its iron-ore price forecast for the fourth quarter of 2024, citing market oversupply, even though demand from China is stabilising.
"We note potential price support from pre-Golden Week holiday restocking over the next two weeks, but a continuing build in total iron-ore stocks is setting the scene for another price drop in October," Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note, referring to China's annual week-long holiday next month.
The volume of iron-ore dispatched to global destinations from 19 ports and 16 mining companies in Australia and Brazil during September 9 to 15 jumped 12.3% week-on-week to hit a more than two-month high of 29-million tons, said Chinese consultancy Mysteel.
Meanwhile, China's crude steel output in August declined for the third straight month as steelmakers grappled with losses from a decline in steel prices, data showed on Saturday.
Property prices fall further as land sales stay at seasonal multi-year lows, leaving little room for steel demand recovery, said ANZ analysts.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE posted losses, with coking coal DJMcv1 and coke DCJcv1 down 1.29% and 0.83%, respectively.
Most steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were weaker. Hot-rolled coil SHHCcv1 dropped about 1.7%, rebar SRBcv1 lost 1.44%, wire rod SWRcv1 shed around 0.8%, and stainless steel SHSScv1 ticked about 0.1% higher.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation