Iron ore futures prices dipped for a fourth consecutive session on Wednesday while rebar prices slipped to their lowest since 2020, pressured by slowing steel production in top consumer China.
The most-traded September iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 0.14% lower at 698.5 yuan ($97.14) a metric ton.
The benchmark June iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 0.08% higher at $96.15 a ton as of 0747 GMT.
Rebar RBF1!, used primarily in construction, eased 0.77% on the day. Earlier in the session, prices hit their lowest since April 2020 at 2,950 yuan, according to LSEG data.
Most steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost ground. Hot-rolled coil shed 0.55%, stainless steel weakened 1.32%, while wire rod climbed 1.96%.
China’s crude steel output in 2025 is expected to fall to 968 million metric tons, down 37 million tons from 2024, Mark Ferguson, director of metals and mining research at S&P Global Commodity Insights, told a conference on Wednesday in Singapore.
The daily crude steel production of key steel enterprises in May dipped 0.3% month-on-month to 2.2 million tons, consultancy Lange Steel said, citing statistics from the China Iron and Steel Industry Association.
While Beijing has previously said it wants to cut crude steel output this year, traders and steelmakers are betting the cuts are unlikely to be enforced amid improving industry profitability.
Also dampening sentiment was the Brazilian government’s decision to renew 25% tariffs on Tuesday, measures which were initially imposed last year on 19 steel products.
China’s industrial profits picked up pace in April, official data showed on Tuesday, giving policymakers cause for optimism that recent stimulus efforts are helping to keep the economy afloat.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE languished, with coking coal and coke (DCJcv1) down 2.2% and 1.91%, respectively.
Source: Reuters