World steel raw material prices decline

According to reports, as the demand for steel in China declined, the prices of iron ore and coking coal, the world's raw material for steel, declined. In July, the spot price of Australian iron ore exported to China was US$111/ton, which was 14% lower than last month and was the lowest value in nine months; the spot price of coking coal exported to China was US$188/ton, which is higher than The monthly decline was 17%, the lowest in 31 months.

In June, China imported 58 million tons of iron ore, which is 9% lower than the previous month. Conversely, port inventory has continued to increase since April and reached 96 million tons in June. The drop in export prices to China will inevitably affect the export prices to Japan. The Japanese media believe that due to the impact of Chinese steel demand and the end of strikes by Australian coal miners, it is expected that Australia’s export coking coal and iron ore prices will continue to decline in the fourth quarter.