Iron ore prices drop

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Iron ore prices dropped on Friday as lower-than-expected hot metal production and a persistent climb in portside inventories in top consumer China weighed on market sentiment.

The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 1.13 percent lower at 877 yuan ($122.00) a metric ton, a week-on-week fall of 1.6 percent.

The benchmark April iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 1.56 percent lower at $114.9 a ton, although the contract posted a weekly gain of 1.5 percent so far.

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Average daily hot metal output dropped for a third straight session by 0.3 percent week-on-week to 2.22 million tons, as of March 8, while stocks at major ports surveyed climbed by 2 percent on the week to 141.51 million tons, the highest since February 2023, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.

“Lower hot metal output weighed on sentiment, contributing to price fall, and we believe the key is downstream steel demand recovery,” said Cheng Peng, a Beijing-based analyst at Sinosteel Futures.

“If downstream demand does not pick up, higher hot metal may result in more steel products, which will in turn pressure ore prices.” – Reuters

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