Latest Update in the SMM Pig Iron Market

Today, DCE iron ore futures fluctuated rangebound, weakening slightly in the afternoon. The most-traded contract I2509 eventually closed at 736.5, up 1.17% for the day. Traders sold goods according to market conditions. Some steel mills faced poor sales of finished products, leading to weakened purchase willingness.

[Brief Commentary on Domestic Iron Ore Market: Iron Ore Concentrates Prices in Tangshan Region May Have Some Room for Upside] Prices of iron ore concentrates in Tangshan region have slightly increased by 5-10 yuan, with the delivery-to-factory price (dry basis, tax included) of Fe66% iron ore concentrates at 945-950 yuan/mt. Currently, mines and beneficiation plants have a strong sentiment to stand firm on quotes, and there is a strong bullish sentiment in the short term.

According to SMM research, the amount of maintenance at steel mills producing construction steel increased slightly this week, with molten iron production peaking. More blast furnace maintenance is expected at steel mills in the future, which will affect construction steel production. The maintenance impact on construction steel output is 1.1138 million tons, an increase of 28,700 tons from last week on a week-on-week basis.

According to the SMM survey, as of May 14, the operating rate of blast furnaces at 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 88.63%, down 0.33 percentage point WoW. The capacity utilisation rate of blast furnaces was 90.45%, down 0.65 percentage point WoW. The daily average pig iron production of the sampled steel mills was 2.4403 million mt, down 17,600 mt WoW.