Iron ore fell for a second day before the release of key Chinese data that should provide a clearer picture of curtailments to steel production in the world’s biggest metals consumer.
The steel-making ingredient fell as much as 1.8% in Asian trading on Thursday. China’s July industrial output figures, released on Friday, will show whether mills are implementing further cuts to production. The China Iron and Steel Association’s 10-day output figures, taken from a smaller sample of mills, showed a 7.4% drop in crude steel output at the end of July compared with the previous period.