This Friday, iron ore futures prices fell and are expected to suffer modest weekly losses due to the strengthening of the dollar and the slowdown in demand for this steel material in China, the main consumer country.

The most traded iron ore contract in September on the Chinese Dalian Stock Exchange (DCE) fell by 0.28% to 725 yuan ($100.67) per ton, at 03:01 GMT. The contract has lost 0.55% since the start of the week. The June reference price of iron ore on the Singapore Stock Exchange was down 0.2% to $98.8 per ton, losing 1.26% since the start of the week

According to the consulting firm Mysteel, “the stocks of finished steel products held by traders across China... fell for a second week from 16 to 22 May, decreasing by 398,500 tons over the week”.

The other steel-making ingredients on DCE have languished, with coking coal and coke falling by 2.87% and 1.31% respectively.