Lithium suppliers seek to rein in price discounts in 2025 talks
The past year has been torrid for lithium, as a global slowdown in the pace of EV adoption left the market saddled with a glut.
Benchmark iron ore futures on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange recovered from four consecutive sessions of losses on Tuesday, gaining as much as 1.6% on falling shipments from major suppliers.
Iron ore shipments that departed from Australia and Brazil stood at 23.54 million tonnes in the week ended October 17, down 589,000 tonnes from the previous week, data from Mysteel consultancy showed.
The most traded iron ore contract on the Dalian exchange, for January delivery, closed up 0.1% at 707 yuan ($110.37) per tonne.
According to Fastmarkets MB, benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China were changing hands for $124.04 a tonne, down 0.2% from Monday’s closing.
BHP Group on Tuesday posted a near 5% drop in first-quarter iron ore output due to maintenance work at its Jimblebar mine and a shortage of rail labour caused by covid-19 border restrictions.
But the world’s largest miner left its annual production outlook unchanged, unlike rival Rio Tinto which last week cut its shipments forecast because of the tight labour market.
Vale is scheduled to disclose quarterly production and sales after the close of trading Tuesday.
Related: Vale may offer clues on what direction iron ore markets are heading
($1 = 6.4057 Chinese yuan)
(With files from Reuters and Bloomberg)
