Iron ore falls as shipments jump, Trump agrees to two-week ceasefire

BEIJING: Iron ore futures prices fell on Wednesday, as shipments of the key steelmaking ingredient from major suppliers surged and US President Donald Trump agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran.

The most-traded iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) slid 1.12% to 791.5 yuan ($115.87) a metric ton, as of 0212 GMT. It touched its lowest since March 12 at 789.5 yuan earlier in the session.

The benchmark May iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was down 0.87% at $105.75 a ton, as of 0202 GMT.

Iron ore shipments from major suppliers Australia and Brazil jumped by 30.5% week-on-week to 24.48 million tons as of April 7, data from consultancy Mysteel showed, as weather-related supply disruptions in Australia waned.

“High shipments and portside stocks, coupled with expectations that it’s hard to see downstream steel consumption to improve materially, pressured ore prices,” analysts at broker Galaxy Futures said in a note.

Rio Tinto said last month that operations at three of Rio’s four Pilbara iron ore port terminals have resumed following Tropical Cyclone Narelle.

Two tropical cyclones in February and March are estimated to have affected the firm’s iron ore shipments by around 8 million tons, according to Rio.

Additionally, Trump’s announcement on social media represented an abrupt turnaround from earlier in the day, sending oil prices plunging and temporarily easing supply jitters and inflation fears. Other steelmaking ingredients were mixed, with coking coal up 0.32%and coke ticking down 0.03%, respectively.

Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were largely weaker.

Rebar shed 0.38%, hot-rolled coil dipped 0.21%, wire rod slipped 1.03% while stainless steel added 0.35%.