Iron ore prices showed a clear divergence from supply and demand fundamentals in late 2025, the China Iron and Steel Association warned in early December. Despite port inventories building to 159 million tonnes, the Platts 62 percent iron ore index rose from 102.05 dollars a tonne on 7 November to 107.80 dollars on 2 December, a gain of 5.63 percent. At the same time, daily hot metal output at 247 surveyed steel mills had fallen steadily from an annual high of 2.4564 million tonnes to 2.3468 million tonnes by the end of November, pointing to shrinking iron ore demand. The China Mineral Resources Research Institute said the gap showed the market was being driven by forces other than physical supply and demand. Seaborne spot buying was dominated by traders rather than mills, pushing the premium for Pilbara fines from zero at the end of October to 1.2 dollars a tonne by 24 November. The association urged market participants to exercise rational judgement, saying prices had no foundation for a sustained rise. The SunSirs benchmark price stood at 796 yuan a tonne on 10 December, down 1.53 percent from the start of the month.
Source: SunSirs — https://www.sunsirs.com/uk/detail_news-28657.html
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