According to Fastmarkets MB, benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China were changing hands for $171.55 a tonne, down 6.5% from Thursday’s closing, the lowest since April.
“Domestic consumption (for iron ore) is weakening significantly… due to different perception of crude steel output cuts, iron ore prices have been fluctuated recently,” analysts with Huatai Futures wrote in a note.
China has asked mills to limit this year’s output to no more than the 2020 volume after the first-half production grew nearly 12% compared with a year earlier.
Under the current strict implementations of steel production controls, high iron ore prices are not seen to be supported, Huatai Futures added.
(With files from Reuters)
