Seaborne iron ore prices continued their rapid decline in the first trading day after China resumed work this week.

The Kallanish KORE 62% Fe index decreased $3.44/tonne on Thursday to $102.05/dry metric tonne cfr Qingdao. The Kallanish KORE 65% Fe index lost $3.69/t at $116.61/dmt cfr, and the KORE 58% Fe index reached $4.36/t lower at $93.3/dmt cfr. 90,000 tonnes of Mac fines were booked at $98.3/t with a laycan of 1-10 June.

On the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE), September iron ore lost CNY 10.5/t ($1.52/t) to CNY 704.5/t, and on the Singapore Exchange June 62% and 65% Fe futures settled $1.84/t and $1.89/t lower respectively at $99.44/t and $114.9/t. The same contract for 58% Fe futures closed down $2.3/t to $92.18/t.

Scrap and billet prices both saw drops on Thursday. Grade 6mm+ heavy scrap delivered to mills in the Yangtze River Delta was CNY 8/t lower at CNY 2,790/t, and Tangshan billet lost CNY 50/t to CNY 3,470/t.

The Chinese steel market saw a sharp drop in April due to a supply-demand imbalance, and the situation did not improve in May. The market remains weak, putting pressure on the raw materials side, which led to iron ore prices still falling in early May. Coke prices, meanwhile, reported a CNY 100/t drop on the same day.

On 2 May, Australian miner Fortescue Metals Group successfully produced the first 68% Fe magnetite product at its Iron Bridge mine. Iron Bridge will ultimately produce 22 million tonnes/year of high-grade magnetite concentrate (see Kallanish passim).

On Thursday, the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 25 basis points, which was in line with market expectations, so it did not have a significant impact on the financial markets.