By Michele Pek
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Iron ore futures continued to slide on Tuesday, with just hours to go until U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports came into effect.
The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) traded 1.39% lower at 779 yuan ($106.93) a metric ton, as of 0307 GMT.
The benchmark April iron ore on the Singapore Exchange eased 0.18% to $99.7 a ton.
Earlier in the session, prices hit $99.35, the lowest since January 15.
“Iron ore dipped below $100/t yesterday for the first time since mid-January. The move followed reports that Chinese steel mills are reducing production to ease pollution levels ahead of the annual National People’s Congress (NPC) meeting,” said ING analysts.
Chinese stocks opened lower on the day as market focus shifted from recent tech and AI themes to the NPC meeting on Wednesday.
Trade tensions with the U.S. are also affecting the outlook for exports, ING added.
Beijing vowed to retaliate against fresh U.S. tariffs, with American agricultural and food products possibly in its crosshairs.
This comes after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened an additional 10% levy on Chinese imports last week, doubling the tariff to a cumulative 20%. The tariffs are set to take effect at 0501 GMT on Tuesday.
Tariff tensions also caused shares of Australian miners to slide, further dampening sentiment. China is one of resource-reliant Australia’s key trading partners.
Still, China’s steel market is expected to gain upward momentum from consumption recovery among steel end-users this month, said Chinese consultancy Mysteel.
Market sentiment may be underpinned by expectations of more policy stimulus, Mysteel added.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE declined, with coking coal and coke down 1.26% and 1.42%, respectively.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost ground. Rebar fell 1.3%, hot-rolled coil shed nearly 1%, wire rod dipped 0.62% and stainless steel slid 0.11%.
($1 = 7.2854 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Michele Pek; Editing by Sumana Nandy)
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