Seaborne iron ore prices fell on Wednesday after fluctuating during the day. Steel futures prices meanwhile were less volatile but also moved a little lower.

The Kallanish KORE 62% Fe index dropped $2.81/tonne to $85.10/dry metric ton cfr Qingdao. The KORE 65% Fe index meanwhile inched just $0.09/t lower to $99.99/dmt and the KORE 58% index dropped $2.76/t to $75.74/dmt.

On the Dalian Commodity Exchange, September iron ore settled at CNY 608/t ($86.27/t), up CNY 3/t. On the Singapore Exchange however, May 62% Fe futures settled down $0.62/t at $82.95/t, 65% Fe futures settled down $0.64/t at $97.06/t, and 58% Fe futures settled down $0.61/t at $72.35/t.

On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the October rebar contract closed CNY 11/t lower at CNY 3,373/t ($479/t), while the same contract for hot rolled coil closed down CNY 4/t at CNY 3,196/t. In Tangshan, billet prices also lost CNY 10/t to CNY 3,060/t.

In China, Beijing is continuing to support incremental boosts to credit, focused on smaller companies. On Wednesday it cut interest rates on its medium-term lending by 0.2%. That means that the April Loan Prime Rate should fall next week. However, such measures remain small-scale and focused. The large-scale stimulus hoped-for by some market participants remains remote.