Iron ore futures fell on Monday, pressured by weaker-than-expected economic data from top consumer China and uncertain near-term demand for the steelmaking material.
The most-traded September iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange TIO1! ended daytime trade 0.89% lower at 722.5 yuan ($100.15) a metric ton.
The benchmark June iron ore (SZZFM5) on the Singapore Exchange was 0.71% lower at $99.35 a ton as of 0704 GMT.
Broadly, growth in China’s industrial output and retail sales slowed in April, official data showed on Monday, as a trade war threatened to dampen momentum.
Moreover, property investment in China fell 10.3% in the first four months of 2025 from a year earlier, following a 9.9% drop in the first quarter, official data showed.
New home prices also stayed lukewarm last month, signalling persistent downward pressure despite measures to stabilise the industry.
China’s crude steel output in April slid 7% from March, though production was still reasonably high, data showed.
Hot metal output, typically used to gauge iron ore demand, fell 8,700 tons month-on-month to 2.45 million tons, said broker Everbright Futures, attributing the fall to blast furnaces undergoing maintenance.
Total iron ore stockpiles across ports in China grew, rising 0.26% on-week to 137 million tons as of May 16, Steelhome data showed.
Still, the number of profitable blast-furnace steel mills in China continued to increase week-on-week as of May 15, thanks to the recovery in finished steel prices, said consultancy Mysteel.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE languished, with coking coal NYMEX:ACT1! and coke (DCJcv1) down 2.2% and 1.79%, respectively.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost ground. Rebar RBF1! and hot-rolled coil EHR1! both weakened around 1%, wire rod (SWRcv1) fell nearly 2.7% and stainless steel HRC1! eased 0.42%.
Source: Reuters