Iron ore hits over one-week high as Rio Tinto suspends work at Guinea mine
[BEIJING] Iron ore futures touched a one-week high on Monday (Aug 25) as Rio Tinto suspended activity at its Simandou project in Guinea following an incident, raising fears of a potential delay in production start at the mine.
The most-traded January iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) closed daytime trade 2.27 per cent higher at 787 yuan (S$141.07) a metric ton, its highest since August 14.
The benchmark September iron ore on the Singapore Exchange rose 2.69 per cent to US$103.3 a ton, as of 0810 GMT, the highest since August 14.
Rio Tinto, the world’s largest iron ore miner, said on Saturday it had suspended activities at Guinea’s SimFer mine site after an incident there left a contract worker dead.
The miner, which owns two of the four Simandou mining blocks as part of its SimFer joint venture with China’s Chalco Iron Ore Holdings (CIOH) and the Guinea government, had earlier expected the first iron ore shipment in November.
Rio Tinto did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
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Supporting prices of the key steelmaking ingredient, near-term demand remained firm despite production restrictions on mills in top Chinese steelmaking hub Tangshan to ensure clean air in Beijing ahead of a military parade to commemorate the end of World War Two.
Average daily hot metal output, a gauge of iron ore demand, held steady at 2.41 million tons in the week to August 21, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.
Shanghai’s announcement to relax home buying restrictions for eligible families also boosted sentiment.
Coking coal and coke, other steelmaking ingredients, rallied 6.48 per cent and 4.36 per cent, respectively.
“A recent mine accident sparked expectations of more stringent safety checks that might reduce supply, underpinning coal prices,” a Shanghai-based coal analyst said on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced on higher raw materials costs.
Rebar gained 0.71 per cent, hot-rolled coil rose 0.92 per cent, wire rod climbed 0.65 per cent and stainless steel added 0.98 per cent. REUTERS
