For the fifth straight session, the September iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange declined, ending 1.55% lower at 764.5 yuan ($105.50) per metric ton. As of 07:10 GMT, the benchmark August iron ore price on the Singapore Exchange fell 1.14 percent to $99.75 per ton, below $100 per ton.
Following panic inventory sell-offs that put pressure on the market, regional steel trading associations in China are lobbying to postpone new quality standards for building steel rebar. Hot-rolled coil fell more than 1.7%, wire rod down over 4.5%, and rebar and stainless steel fell more than 2% on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, which tracks steel benchmarks.
The industrial metals complex has been disappointed, according to Atilla Widnell, managing director of Navigate Commodities, because China's third plenum's stimulus expectations were not realized. Furthermore, depressing statistics from China revealed a contracting real estate market, suggesting that government initiatives to lower excess housing inventories have not had much of an impact.
Iron ore prices recovered somewhat in spite of these losses when China's central bank carried out an ad hoc loan operation at reduced interest rates, pointing to a shift in favor of more aggressive monetary stimulus. Coking coal and coke, two other materials used in the steel industry, also decreased, losing 1.24% and 1.95%, respectively. Fortescue, an Australian company, predicted increased iron ore exports for the fiscal year 2025 and recorded record shipments in the fourth quarter, rising 24% sequentially.
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