Iron ore prices continued on Monday the sharp correction seen since last week and touched the lowest level in almost three years in the spot market, amid a new round of negative economic data in China.
In October, the Chinese government’s manufacturing PMI fell to 49.2, indicating a contraction in activity and below market expectations.
In North China, ore with 62% iron content ended the day down 2.5%, to US$79.50 per ton, according to the Platts index, from S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Thus, in October, the accumulated loss for the commodity exceeded 17%. In 2022, the main raw material of steel shows a devaluation of 33%.
With the recent correction, prices in the transoceanic market have returned to the levels seen in November 2019.
Since the peak of US$162.75 per tonne reached in March this year, the losses have reached 51%.
At the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE), the most traded contracts, for delivery in January, fell 3.2%, at CNY 612 (US$83.82) per ton.
With information from Valor Econômico