Iron ore price set for second weekly loss on high China stocks

 Iron ore prices extended losses to a second straight session on Friday, and were set for a second weekly decline, dragged down by elevated portside stocks in top consumer China, although signs of improving demand helped limit the drop.

The most-traded iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) DCIOcv1 closed daytime trade down 0.5% at 799.5 yuan ($116.26) a metric ton, posting a weekly fall of 1.5%.

The benchmark May iron ore SZZFK6 on the Singapore Exchange was 0.92% lower at $105.4 a ton, as of 0700 GMT, recording a 1.7% decline so far this week.

Downward pressure from high portside stocks dominated trade, while there was no dramatic change in supply and demand, said analysts.

Iron ore inventory at 47 Chinese ports rose 0.5% week-on-week to 177.5 million tons by April 2, hovering near the record high of 179.47 million tons touched in mid-March, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.

Moreover, concerns that spot availability could increase if China’s state iron ore buyer and BHP (ASX: BHP) make progress in negotiations over 2026 supply contract weighed on sentiment.

Prices were also under pressure as Vietnam has imposed a temporary anti-dumping levy of up to 27.83% on some Chinese hot-rolled coil steel products starting from April 17, its trade ministry said.

However, the downside was capped by signs of improving demand as some mills resumed production after equipment maintenance.

The average daily hot metal output, a gauge of iron ore demand, climbed 2.7% week-on-week to 2.37 million tons, as of April 2, its highest since October 2025, as per Mysteel data.

According to analysts at ship-tracking agency Kpler, “The ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to exert indirect pressure on iron ore by driving up freight and fuel costs.”

Meanwhile, other steelmaking ingredients coking coal DJMcv1 and coke DCJcv1 eased 1.2% and 0.86%, respectively.

Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed. Rebar SRBcv1 shed 0.23%, hot-rolled coil SHHCcv1 dipped 0.24%, wire rod SWRcv1 rose 2.18% and stainless steel SHSScv1 added 0.78%.

($1 = 6.8769 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Amy Lv and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Subhranshu Sahu)