BEIJING – Iron ore futures slipped on Friday and posted a second weekly loss weighed down by the lingering Sino-US trade tensions, but resilient demand, upbeat economic data and hopes of more stimulus from top consumer China cushioned the fall.
The most-traded September iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) dropped 1.76 percent to 699 yuan ($95.80) a metric ton, its lowest since April 11. It registered a weekly drop of 0.7 percent.
The benchmark May iron ore on the Singapore Exchange fell 0.88 percent to $96.95 a ton, posting a 0.2 percent decline.
Even as US President Donald Trump signalled a potential end to the tit-for-tat tariff hikes between the US and China that shocked markets, all eyes are on more progressive signs of easing trade tensions between the two superpowers.
Goldman Sachs analysts forecast iron ore prices to fall to $90 by the fourth quarter and $80 by the fourth quarter of 2026, citing a return to surplus from the second half of the year.
“We expect tariffs to weigh on both China domestic demand and steel exports over the remainder of the year,” they said, lowering their ex-China seaborne ore demand growth forecast to 3 percent from previous 5 percent.
