Benchmark iron ore futures in China tumbled for a second straight session on Tuesday, narrowing their gains to 30 percent so far in 2021 from more than 50 percent earlier, as Beijing's plans to step up inspection into commodity prices dented sentiment, Reuters reports.
The most-traded iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for September delivery, dropped by 5.2 percent at 1,110 yuan (US$171.75) a ton, the lowest in two weeks. It was down by 3.6 perent at 1,128 yuan as of 0320 GMT.
"Following the recent macro policies… speculations have begun to cool down and iron ore prices have fluctuated," analysts at Huatai Futures wrote in a note.
State planner and market regulator on Monday looked into spot market at the Beijing Iron Ore Trading Center and said would closely monitor prices and investigate malicious speculation.
China’s December aluminium production grows 4.2%, leading to 2024 output to 1 million tonnes shy of the production cap
