Dalian iron ore prices touched an 18-month low on Thursday, the first working day after a week-long holiday break in top consumer China, as weak steel margins dimmed the demand outlook for the key steelmaking ingredient.
The most-traded iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) closed daytime trade down 3.12% to 682.5 yuan ($101.84) a metric ton, its weakest level since April 9, 2025.
The benchmark November iron ore on the Singapore Exchange erased earlier gains to trade 0.16% lower at $91.3 a ton as of 0703 GMT. It lost 1.2% over China’s October 1 to 7 break, hitting its lowest since September 2024 at $90.95 on October 5.
Some Chinese steelmakers either have started or planned equipment maintenance as losses deteriorated, according to a survey by consultancy Mysteel on Wednesday.
“Profitability among steelmakers remained under pressure while ore supply is expected to increase,” analysts at broker First Futures said in a note.
Only around 7% of Chinese steelmakers were operating at a profit by end-September while the average daily hot metal output, a gauge of iron ore demand, slid to a six-month low at 2.34 million tons, Mysteel data showed.
Falling freight rates amid easing energy prices also kept ore prices under pressure, analysts said.
Other steelmaking ingredients were mixed, with coking coal rising 2.07% while coke eased 0.18%.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost ground as inventories of major steel products accumulated during China’s holiday break. Rebar shed 1.77%, hot-rolled coil fell 1.22%, and stainless steel lost 1.82%.
($1 = 6.7019 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Amy Lv and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Harikrishnan Nair)
