Iron ore prices fell again on Thursday, extending the losses seen a session earlier. And with Dalian iron ore futures down heavily again in overnight trade, it looks like there may be further weakness to come.

According to Metal Bulletin, the spot price for benchmark 62% fines slumped 1.5% to $86.68 a tonne, adding to the 1.4% drop registered on Wednesday.

It now sits at a two-week low.

Like the benchmark, higher grades also fell with the price for 65% fines losing 0.4% to settle at $99.80 a tonne.

Lower grades managed to buck the broader trend with 58% fines climbing 0.9% to $69.23 a tonne.

The weakness in spot markets was mirrored in Chinese iron ore futures traded in Dalian.

The May 2019 contract slumped to 615 yuan, down from 624 yuan on Wednesday evening. In contrast, rebar and hot-rolled coil futures in Shanghai were flat, ending trade at 3,677 and 3,671 yuan respectively, near unchanged from the prior night session close.

After jumping on Wednesday night, coking coal and coke futures finished flat to lower, ending the session at 1,285 and 2,126.5 yuan respectively.

As was the case during Thursday’s day session, all five contracts finished mixed in overnight trade.

SHFE Hot Rolled Coil ¥3,677 , 0.14%
SHFE Rebar ¥3,685 , 0.35%
DCE Iron Ore ¥605.50 , -2.02%
DCE Coking Coal ¥1,283.50 , -0.16%
DCE Coke ¥2,138.00 , 0.45%

Iron ore futures were once again hit hard, sliding to 605.5 yuan a tonne. The movements in other contracts were far more muted during the session.

The weakness in iron ore futures points to a soft start to trade in physical markets on Friday.

Trade will resume at midday AEDT.

This article first appeared on Business Insider Australia, Australia’s most popular business news website. Read the original article. Follow Business Insider on Facebook or Twitter.