SMM

This week, the leading mines in Shandong reported a mine-mouth price of 855 yuan/mt for 64-grade alkaline iron ore concentrates (dry basis, tax-exclusive, acceptance settlement), down by 21 yuan/mt. Some local mines underwent maintenance and halted production, fulfilling long-term contracts with inventory, while most other mines maintained normal production with relatively small inventory pressure. Steel mills restocked at a slow pace, and steel mills in Hebei showed average purchasing enthusiasm. Overall transactions for the week were moderate. Recently, macro news has been relatively scarce, and the winter stockpiling trend among steel mills has not been evident. In the short term, local iron ore concentrate prices are expected to fluctuate downward. [SMM Steel]