Iron ore contracts on the Dalian and Singapore exchanges marked their second quarterly losses, despite some gains on Friday, with markets still dominated by concerns over a strict Covid-zero policy and industry jitters. real estate in China, the world’s largest steel producer.
However, hopes of maintaining policies to support the struggling Chinese economy and rising construction-related steel demand gave some support to the steel ingredient.
January’s top-traded iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange closed up 0.1% at 721.50 yuan ($101.66) a tonne, down from the day’s high of 730.50 yuan.
On the Singapore Stock Exchange, October benchmark iron ore rose 0.6% to $96 a tonne, down from a session high of $97.55.
On the spot market, benchmark iron ore with a content of 62% bound for China dropped by USD 3 on Friday to USD 97 a ton, after being relatively stable this week at a level close to USD 100 a ton. , down 18% from the previous quarter.
Replenishing demand ahead of China’s Golden Week holidays from Oct 1 has supported iron ore prices, along with rising steelmakers’ consumption of the material, analysts said.
China’s blast furnace capacity utilization rate has risen steadily over the past eight weeks, reaching 89.08% on Sept. 23, the highest since June, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.
“Restocking warehouses ahead of the festival is still ongoing,” analysts at Zhongzhou Futures said in a note.
But overall Chinese iron ore demand could remain subdued in coming months, especially if Beijing maintains its zero Covid policy, analysts said.
Source: CNN Brasil
Joe Jameson, a technology journalist with over 2 years of experience, writes for top online news websites. Specializing in the field of technology, Joe provides insights into the latest advancements in the industry. Currently, he contributes to covering the world stock market.
