China’s iron ore futures rose on Monday as spot prices hovered near 10-month highs supported by falling portside stockpiles, but gains were capped by signs of weakening local demand for steel products.
The Dalian Commodity Exchange’s most-traded September iron ore closed the morning session up 1.0% at 770 yuan ($108.63) a tonne. Most-active July iron ore on the Singapore Exchange, however, fell 1.3% to $100.86 a tonne.
Imported iron ore stocked at China’s ports dropped to 107.75 million tonnes last week, the lowest since October 2016, SteelHome consultancy data showed. SH-TOT-IRONINV
The further decline in portside inventory showed Chinese steel mills’ strong demand for iron ore as they continued to ramp up production, with crude steel output rising 8.5% in May from a month earlier.
In the first five months of the year, China’s crude steel output rose 1.9% from same period in 2019.
Shanghai Metals Market repeats witness on aluminium and alumina prices going opposite directions
Aluminium prices rise across the board on SMM, defying previous week’s declining trend
