BEIJING- Prices of iron ore futures fell to a nearly one-month low on Thursday, as concerns around demand outlook in top consumer China and the US Federal Reserve’s outlook for interest rate cuts weighed on sentiment.
The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) traded 1.97 percent lower at 771.5 yuan ($105.70) a metric ton, after hitting the lowest level since Nov. 22 at 767.5 yuan a ton earlier in the session.
The benchmark January iron ore on the Singapore Exchange shed 1.35 percent to $101.3 a ton. It touched the lowest level since Nov. 25 at $100.9 a ton earlier.
“We’ve long anticipated this correction, as the sentiment-driven bubble around China’s Central Economic Work Conference was eventually going to burst with no concrete stimulus measures outlined until March 2025,” said Atilla Widnell, managing director at Navigate Commodities.
“This week has seen a perfect storm of loosening supply- and demand-side fundamentals with BHP resuming production from its South Flank mine in Western Australia while mills in China are also heard to be scaling back production.”
BHP one of the world’s leading iron ore suppliers, resumed operations at two mines in Western Australia after a pause due to heavy rains, alleviating supply worries.
