DCE iron ore futures market headed for bounce and quotations in the physical port stock market remained flat over last Friday. Traders showed little intentions to offer further concessions on prices, and PBF was closed at 1125yuan/mt in Shandong market, keeping flat over last Friday. Some steel mills in Jiangsu started conducting maintenance and pig iron production is going to decrease further. Besides, SMM’s data showed, the pig iron output reduction this week continued to decline by 31% to 372,000 mt due to steel mills’ maintenance, which keep pressing iron ore prices. However, as the port stock prices for mainstream iron ore products have plummeted to a four-month low, steel mills purchasing enthusiasm warmed up. Besides, as steel mills profits continued rising, iron ore prices in the short run may enjoy certain supports.
Source: Metals Market Index (MMi)