BEIJING- Iron ore futures dropped on Wednesday to their lowest levels in more than six months, as demand prospects were clouded by the escalation of a global trade war triggered by US President Donald Trump’s broad tariffs.
The most-traded September iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) was down 2.9 percent at 687 yuan ($93.47) a metric ton. Earlier in the session, the contract hit its lowest point since September 24 at 670.5 yuan a ton.
The benchmark May iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was trading 1.16 percent lower at $93.65 a ton. The contract had earlier dropped to its lowest level since September 24, reaching $91.70 per ton.
Both benchmarks have slid more than 10 percent so far in April.
The US said on Tuesday that 104 percent duties on imports from China will take effect shortly after midnight, following Beijing’s refusal to yield to what it described as blackmail, with a vow to “fight till the end”.
“The impact of the heightened tariffs on the market have aggravated, pressuring iron ore prices in the short term,” analysts at First Futures said in a note.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE similarly slumped, with coking coal and coke down 3.77 percent and 3.33 percent, respectively.
