Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Iron ore prices extended declines on Friday, dragged down further by lingering worries of diminishing demand in China.
Iron ore demand continued to shrink with the daily hot metal output among the surveyed 247 steel mills declining by 1.3% week-on-week to 2.41 million tonnes in the week as of May 5, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.
Benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China fell 0.7%, to $101.58 per tonne, the lowest since November 2022.
The most-traded September iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange ended daytime trading 0.99% lower at 697.5 yuan ($100.93) a tonne after touching a new five-month low at 675.5 yuan a tonne in the morning.
“Some mills planned to increase equipment maintenance amid shrinking margins, which will further cap demand for iron ore in the short term,” analysts at Sinosteel Futures said in a note.
“We expect portside (iron ore) inventories to gradually step into a cycle of picking up later.”
(With files from Reuters)
Related: Iron ore price set for worst month since October on demand concerns
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Gurudatta Panda
WHEN IRON ORE PRICE WILL INCREASE?