The company's saleable iron ore production stood at 1.08mn t over the three-month period, while sales edged up by 2pc against the previous year, to 1.34mn t.

The daily Argus ICX 62pc iron ore index was at $96.15/dry metric tonne today, down 19pc from a year earlier.

"Our plant uses a lot of water and chemicals but unlike other jurisdictions will not produce a single litre of liquid waste," SRC president Mike Crabtree said.

The plate delivered assessment rose by $8.25/st to $1,676.50/st.

Machine shop turnings price indications are expected to emerge later, but a sideways trend would leave prices at $130/gt.

Private construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.43tn, 0.6pc below the July estimate of $1.44tn.

US steelmakers' attempts to correct the oversupply may be swamped by new capacity coming online.

Peru’s mining exports fell in the first eight months, the first accumulated year-on-year drop in 2022.