The most-traded September iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange ended daytime trade 0.8% higher at 1,219.50 yuan ($188.36) a tonne.
Iron ore’s most-active August contract on the Singapore Exchange was down 0.5% at $209.15 a tonne, as of 0706 GMT.
“There are early signs of a turning point in Chinese demand with falling Chinese steel prices crushing margins for steel mills,” Justin Smirk, a senior economist at Westpac in Sydney, said.
Lower cement prices in China, rebar makers possibly starting to incur losses, and excavator sales in May posting the first monthly drop since early 2020 point to slowing construction activity that has also been hampered by an unfavourable weather, Smirk said.
China’s steel exports also remained weak, hit by tepid demand in Southeast Asian countries - its largest buyers of the construction and manufacturing material - due to a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections in the region, Mysteel consultancy reported.
