Iron ore crumbled below $100 a ton as a policy meeting in China
failed to deliver major stimulus, while supplies stayed strong.
The steelmaking
material slid as much as 3.5% to touch $99.85 in Singapore, with futures on
track for a third day of losses. The outcome of the Third Plenum, a
twice-a-decade conclave of Communist Party officials held last week,
underwhelmed investors, with few steps to boost metals demand or fix the
property crisis.
On the supply side, data from Brazil — the largest iron ore
exporter after Australia — showed daily average shipments reached 1.62 million
tons in the first 15 business days of July, a faster pace than in the full
month a year ago. Last week, major miners reported record levels of production.
Iron ore has
collapsed by more than a quarter this year, and is one of the worst performing
major commodities. The material — which dipped briefly below $100 in both March
and April — has been dragged lower by signs that the global seaborne market is
in surplus, with stockpiles at ports ballooning.
“China’s recent
macro policy did not deliver anything beyond what was already expected,” said
Han Jing, a senior analyst at SDIC Essence Futures Co., who also cited weak
steel-product demand as a driver of lower iron ore prices. “Meanwhile, the
global seaborne market is on the side of surplus,” she said.
Futures traded
3.5% lower at $99.90 a ton in Singapore at 3:05 p.m. local time. In China, iron
ore contracts in Dalian dropped, along with steel rebar and hot-rolled coil
futures in Shanghai.
The rout has
taken a toll on miners’ share prices. In Australia, BHP Group Ltd. closed on
Monday at the lowest level since November 2022, with additional weakness caused
by a selloff in copper.