Iron ore price up to $150.75 per tonne
The price of iron ore jumped nearly 4% on Friday as Chinese factories grapple with supply shortages due to covid-related disruptions.
Benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into North China changed hands for $150.75 a tonne during morning trading, according to Fastmarkets MB, up 3.5% from Thursday’s close. .
The most traded iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for delivery in May, rose 3.9% to 858 yuan ($134.82) a ton. They ended at 856 yuan a ton, sending weekly gains to 2.7%.
Producers in the main steel city of Tangshan are set to cut or suspend production as their stockpiles of raw materials can only supply production for several days while transportation remains limited due to a temporary lockdown.
Traffic controls are disrupting operations at some factories in the northern city, which has long played a central role in the world’s biggest steel industry. Tangshan produced more than 130 million tons of steel last year, about 13 percent of China’s output.
The average daily output of about 36,100 tons of molten iron had been affected in Tangshan as of March 24, according to data compiled by consultancy Mysteel, amid blast furnace maintenance due to a shortage of iron. supply.
Nearly 80% of China’s economy has been affected in one way or another by the worst covid-19 outbreak in two years, straining the supply of raw materials and posing a growing threat to the demand.
