Iron ore futures retreated on Tuesday, 23 September 2025, as signs of soft end-use steel demand in China outweighed pre‑holiday restocking. On the Dalian Commodity Exchange, the most‑traded January 2026 contract was down 1.42% at 801 yuan ($112.64) per tonne as of 02:33 GMT, while the Singapore Exchange’s September benchmark traded 0.28% lower at $105.50/t. Other ferrous contracts also weakened: Dalian coking coal fell 2.64% and coke dropped 2.11%. On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, rebar fell 1.0%, hot‑rolled coil (HRC) slid 1.24%, wire rod eased 0.49%, and stainless steel dipped 0.15%. A broker note cited a sharp drop in third‑quarter steel end‑use demand despite manufacturing‑related consumption rising more than 7% year on year in H1. China’s authorities also reiterated they will “strictly” curb new steel capacity, maintaining pressure on the sector amid persistent oversupply. Later in the Dalian daytime session, the January 2026 iron ore contract settled at 802.5 yuan/t, with total iron ore futures turnover at roughly 28.46 billion yuan on 354,792 lots. The moves come ahead of China’s National Day holiday, when mills and traders typically adjust inventories. Japan’s August crude steel output fell 3.4% year on year to 6.64 million tonnes, while India’s rose 14.2% in the same period, underscoring diverging regional trends that may influence raw‑material flows.
