"One thing is clear, China’s crude steel production in H2 will decline compared to both H1 this year and H2 last year," said CRU Group.

Fortescue shipped 49.3 million tonnes of ore in the quarter ended June 30, compared with 47.3 million tonnes a year ago.

The company revised down its guidance for year-end iron ore production capacity to 343 million tonnes per annum from 350 million tonnes previously.

The company said it would start a $2.2 billion buyback programme to be completed by the end of 2021.

Vale reported a Q2 net income of $7.586 billion, up over 600% from the same period a year ago, but slightly below the Refinitiv consensus estimate of $7.67 billion.

Rio Tinto is the first of the majors to post earnings, kicking off a reporting season that’s expected to see record results across the board.

Johannesburg-listed Kumba reported a jump in diluted headline earnings per share of 178% for the six months ended on June 30.