Iron ore dips as cost concerns ease, logs 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.

However, expectations of improving demand in top consumer China and tightening availability of spot cargoes along with Beijing's widening bans on more BHP BHP.AX products kept prices of the key steelmaking ingredient on track for a monthly gain.

The most-traded iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) DCIOcv1 closed daytime trade down 0.8% to 808 yuan ($116.99) a metric ton. It was up 7.7% for March, its biggest monthly gain since July 2025.

The benchmark May iron ore SZZFK6 on the Singapore Exchange, which was down 0.69% at $105.5 a ton by 0738 GMT, gained 7.8% in the month, the biggest monthly gain since September 2024.

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, said Guiqiu Zhuo, an analyst with broker Jinrui Futures.

Coking coal DJMcv1 and coke DCJcv1, other steelmaking ingredients, tumbled 5.71% and 3.13%, respectively.

"Coal price slump dragged down other ferrous products; concerns over growing freight costs that had supported ore prices also eased," Zhuo added.

Ore prices posted monthly gains as the market had expected ore demand to pick up in March when steel consumption typically improves.

However, the average daily hot metal output, a gauge of iron ore demand, fell by 1.6% in March from the month before, according to Reuters calculation based on data from consultancy Mysteel.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost ground. Rebar SRBcv1 shed 0.48%, hot-rolled coil SHHCcv1 dipped 0.33%, wire rod SWRcv1 slipped 2.02% and stainless steel SHSScv1 fell 1.29%.

($1 = 6.9064 Chinese yuan)