Iron ore futures prices fell, heading toward weekly losses, amid weakening domestic demand for steel.
The most actively traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange closed Friday’s session down 0.5%, settling at 812 yuan ($116.55) per ton.
Meanwhile, on the Singapore Exchange, February iron ore futures declined by 1% to trade at $106 per ton as of 2:27 p.m. Mecca time.
Data released by Mysteel on January 15 showed that total imported iron ore inventories at major Chinese ports rose for the eighth consecutive week, reaching a record high of 165.6 million tons.
At the same time, steel mill inventories fell by 2.1% week on week, while iron ore trading volumes at ports dropped by 20.3% compared with the previous week, according to Reuters.