The seaborne iron ore market slipped lower on Wednesday despite increased Chinese pig iron output in March.

The Kallanish KORE 62% Fe index retreated by $0.75/tonne to $99.14/dry metric tonne cfr Qingdao, and the KORE 65% Fe index declined by $0.73/t at $111.75/dry metric tonne cfr Qingdao. The KORE 58% Fe index, meanwhile, dropped by $0.78/t to $86.10/dmt cfr.

On public platforms, 90,000 tonnes of Mac Fines were booked at $95.10/t with a laycan of 21-30 May. In addition, the same amount of JMBF Fines were sold at a floating price with the laycan of 16-25 May.

On the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE), the most-traded, September 2025 iron ore contract turned down by CNY 2.5/t ($0.34/t) to CNY 706.5/t on Wednesday.

On the Singapore Exchange, May 62% Fe futures and 65% Fe futures inched lower by $0.52/t and $0.47/t respectively to $98.19/t and $111.02/t. The same contract for 58% Fe futures, meanwhile, decreased by $0.89/t to $85.86/t.

Tangshan billet on Wednesday saw a CNY 20/t decline to CNY 2,940/t.

In March 2025, China produced 92.84 million tonnes of crude steel, marking a year-on-year increase of 4.6%. Pig iron output reached 75.29mt, up 3.1% from the same period last year, while finished steel production rose by 8.3% to 134.42mt.

First-quarter crude steel production stood at 259.33mt, inching up 0.6% y-o-y. Pig iron output totalled 216.28mt, up 0.8%, and finished steel production reached 358.74mt, an increase of 6.1% y-o-y.

Elsewhere, Australian miner Rio Tinto announced that its Pilbara iron ore shipments for 2025 are expected to be at the lower end of its full-year guidance, citing disruptions caused by extreme weather events in Q1 (see separate story). Despite the setbacks, the company has maintained its full-year shipment forecast, at 323-338mt.