Iron ore futures prices declined on Tuesday, as increased shipments from major suppliers Australia and Brazil weighed on sentiment, although lingering hopes of steelmakers in top consumer China restocking cargoes limited the loss.
The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) TIO1! closed trade 0.44% lower at 789 yuan ($112.86) a metric ton. The contract touched its highest level since December 3 on Monday.
The benchmark January iron ore (SZZFF6) on the Singapore Exchange was 0.17% lower at $105.65 a ton by 0717 GMT. It hit its highest level since November 27 at $106.55 in Monday’s session.
Iron ore shipments from Australia and Brazil, the world’s two-largest suppliers, rose 8.6% week-on-week during December 22-28, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.
Chinese steel mills are expected to book more cargoes in the coming weeks to meet production needs over the week-long Lunar New Year holiday break in February, said analysts.
Meanwhile, Chinese developer Vanke’s 000002 bondholders approved its proposal to extend the grace period for the repayment of a 3.7 billion yuan bond, temporarily removing a default risk.
The property market was the largest steel consumer in China, but protracted woes in the sector hit steel consumption, weighing on prices of steel and the feedstocks.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE gained ground, with coking coal NYMEX:ACT1! and coke (DCJcv1) up 0.99% and 0.44%, respectively.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange moved sideways. Rebar RBF1! lost 0.1% and hot-rolled coil EHR1! nudged down 0.33%. Stainless steel HRC1! firmed 1.28% and wire rod gained 0.32%.
Source: Reuters