Iron-ore futures reversed early gains on Wednesday, with the Dalian benchmark price hitting the lowest in nearly eight weeks, as weakening global steel demand outweighed slowing exports of the steelmaking ingredient from Australia and Brazil.
The most-traded January iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 ended daytime trade 1.3% lower at 662.50 yuan ($91.25) a tonne, after hitting its lowest since Sept. 2 at 658.50 yuan earlier in the session.
On the Singapore Exchange, benchmark November iron ore SZZFX2 was down 1.3% at $87.60 a tonne, as of 0721 GMT. It hit a contract low of $87.55, just after rebounding to $90 during morning trade.
"Weak steel demand is weighing on prices across the globe," ANZ commodity strategists said in a note. "The US has led the decline, down almost 50%. Most other regions have seen a decline between 20%-25%."
Steel mill margins in China have turned negative, they said.
While worries about a looming global recession and a struggling Chinese economy persist, some analysts said iron ore support appeared to hold strongly at around $90 a tonne.
Iron ore exports from Australia this month totalled 61.9 million tonnes so far, compared with 76.8-million tonnes in September, Refinitiv data showed. Exports from Brazil totalled 23.4 million tonnes, down from September's 31.8-million tonnes.
Poor demand, however, brought portside iron ore inventory in China to 131.2-million tonnes, as of October 21, marking its first weekly rise after steadily declining for five weeks, SteelHome consultancy data showed.
Chinese steel futures were also subdued, with rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SRBcv1 settling down 0.1%, while hot-rolled coil trimmed gains to just 0.1%. Wire rod SWRcv1 advanced 0.7%, but stainless steel SHSScv1 dipped 0.3%.
Other Dalian steelmaking inputs also remained under pressure, with coking coal DJMcv1 and coke DCJcv1 shedding 1.8% and 0.9%, respectively.