Seaborne iron ore prices extended gains on Tuesday even as China's steel industry swung into the red again in July.

The Kallanish KORE 62% Fe index and KORE 65% Fe index rose by $0.97/t and $0.88/t, respectively, to $101.51/dry metric tonne cfr Qingdao and $115.31/dmt cfr. The KORE 58% Fe index is $0.89/t higher at $88.39/dmt cfr.

On public platforms, 170,000 tonnes of PB Fines were sold at $100.6/t with a laycan of 29 September and 8 October. Meanwhile, 90,000t and 80,000t of Mac Fines were booked at $95.9/t and $96.8/t respectively for shipment on 16-25 September.

On the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE), the most-traded January 2025 iron ore contract surged by CNY 21/t ($2.94/t) to CNY 754.5/t ($105.9/t). On the Singapore Exchange, September 62% Fe futures and 65% Fe futures settled $1.25/t and $1.17/t higher, respectively, at $101.6/t and $114.42/t. The same contract for 58% Fe futures gained by $1.33/t to $88.68/t.

Scrap prices kept rising but billet values remained stable on Tuesday. 6mm+ heavy scrap delivered to mills in the Yangtze River Delta was CNY 19/t higher at CNY 2,382/t. Tangshan billet remained stable at CNY 2,970/t.

After two consecutive months of profitability, China's steel industry saw losses again in July as revenue fell by more than costs due to a plunge in market sales. The steel industry in China reported a CNY 2.45 billion loss in July, with average rebar price in the reporting month decreasing 4.4% month-on-month while domestic coke price rose 0.8%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China.

In addition, statistics from the China Iron & Steel Association show the purchase cost of imported iron ore in July was CNY 797.71/t, down 2.96% from June. However, the average purchase cost in the first seven months of this year was still 2.58% higher than the same period last year, suggesting that iron ore prices are more resilient than steel.