Iron ore sank to the lowest level in more than a year amid concerns about a major physical trader of the commodity, which compounded existing market softness linked to a challenging demand outlook.

Futures for the steelmaking ingredient retreated by as much as 2.3% to $93.65 a ton in Singapore, the lowest intraday level since early July 2025. In Dalian, the most-traded contract declined by nearly 3%.

Vitol Group and Cargill Inc. have stopped doing business with Radiant World, a privately held company, amid concerns over fake invoices, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. In addition, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s Point Bonita fund were reviewing exposures to the company. Radiant World — which has grown in recent years to become one of the market’s main players — said the developments are “categorically untrue”.

Iron ore had already faced pressure on concerns about deteriorating steel industry fundamentals. Chinese mill margins weakened further last week, while hot-metal output fell for a fourth week. In Asia’s largest economy, construction has slumped to its lowest level since the start of the pandemic, while factory activity contracted in July for the first time in five months.

Following the report on Radiant World, traders may be on alert for any shifts in liquidity, according to Bancy Bai, an analyst at Horizon Insights. “There have been no apparent anomalies observed in the spot market so far,” she said.

Benchmark futures for 61% content ore traded 2.3% lower at $93.70 a ton at 3:12 p.m. local time, following a run of three monthly losses, the longest such streak in more than a year. Yuan-priced steel contracts in Shanghai also declined.

(By Katharine Gemmell)