Iron ore futures sank to 106 in London on Friday as stockpiles in China expanded yet again. Inventory at ports rose by 2.78 million tonnes on week to 113.25 million tonnes, according to Mysteel data. Material from both Australia and Brazil climbed, with the latter gaining more than 5%.
This was further exacerbated by the broad-based market sentiment, which turned sour amid escalating tensions between China and US. China ordered the closure of the US consulate in Chengdu in response to the closure of its consulate in Houston by the US State Department just a day earlier. The CSI 300 Index fell 4.4% while the Heng Seng was also down by 2.2% at the close.
Iron ore futures fell by over a dollar overnight. The most-active August contract on the Singapore Exchange was seen hovering sub-106 during the morning DCE session. A small pick-up towards the end of the session saw Aug trading at 106.