Iron ore dips on easing cost concerns; heads for monthly gain

BEIJING, March 31 (Reuters) - Iron ore fell on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump's comments on ending the Iran war eased concerns about rising freight costs driven by soaring energy prices, while improving demand in top consumer China kept prices of the key steelmaking ingredient on track for a monthly gain.
By 0208 GMT, the most-traded iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) DCIOcv1 slid 0.55% to 810 yuan a metric ton, which recorded an increase of 7.9% so far this month.
The benchmark May iron ore SZZFK6 on the Singapore Exchange was down 0.31% at $105.9 a ton, as of 0203 GMT, a gain of 8.2% so far this month.

U.S. President Donald Trump told aides he is willing to end the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed and leave a complex operation to reopen it for a later date, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing administration officials.

Trump's remarks sparked expectations that the energy supply crunch would be alleviated, sending coal prices down and dragging the whole ferrous market down with them, said Zhuo Guiqiu, an analyst with broker Jinrui Futures.

"Concerns over growing freight costs that had supported ore prices were also eased," Zhuo added.

However, a drastic fall in iron ore shipments from major suppliers, Australia and Brazil, limited the downside in prices.

Two tropical cyclones in February and March are estimated to have affected iron ore shipments for the firm by around eight million tons, Rio Tinto RIO.AX said on Monday, adding that it has "identified a pathway to recover around half of these losses."

Operations at three of its four Pilbara iron ore port terminals have resumed following Tropical Cyclone Narelle, said Rio, leaving its annual guidance unchanged.

Coking coal DJMcv1 and coke DCJcv1, other steelmaking ingredients, tumbled 4.68% and 2.9%, respectively.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost ground. Rebar SRBcv1 shed 0.22%, hot-rolled coil SHHCcv1 dipped 0.21%, wire rod SWRcv1 slipped 0.69% and stainless steel SHSScv1 fell 1.22%.