China’s iron ore futures suffered their worst one-day price drop for almost two years on Monday, but the evaporating optimism in the market has yet to show up in imports of the key raw material for making steel. Contracts on the Dalian Commodity Exchange ended day trading on Monday at 723.5 yuan ($101.83) a metric ton, 4.83% down from the previous close and the largest daily loss since Oct. 31, 2022.
The weakness was mirrored by Singapore Exchange futures , which closed at $96.60 a ton, down 2.13% from the prior close and the lowest since Aug. 16. The catalyst for Monday’s weakness was a raft of data that indicated that the world’s second-biggest economy is struggling to gain momentum.
The private Caixin/S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 50.4 in August from 49.8 the previous month, beating analysts’ forecasts in a Reuters poll of 50.0 and moving above the 50-level that demarcates expansion from contraction.
For the rest of this column: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/fading-china-optimism-hits-iron-ore-prices-not-yet-volumes-russell-2024-09-03/#:~:text=LAUNCESTON%2C%20Australia%2C%20Sept%203%20(,raw%20material%20for%20making%20steel