Benchmark iron ore futures in China dropped for a third straight session on Monday, falling as much as 2.7% as rising port inventories dampened a price surge driven by supply concerns.
The most-traded iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange for September delivery closed down 2.0% at 815 yuan ($116.48) per tonne, after dropping as much as 2.7% earlier.
"Supplies from the top four miners are still within the expectation. Based on the shipment data, arrivals in the next period will dip but still around high levels," CITIC Futures wrote in a note.
"Iron ore supplies are recovering and the support for prices will weaken," it added.
Stockpiles of imported iron ore at China's ports rose for a sixth straight week to 115.05 million tonnes, as of July 26, the highest in nearly three months, data from SteelHome consultancy showed.
