Ferrous futures slump on clouded China demand outlook

July 21 (Reuters) - Chinese ferrous commodity futures dropped on Thursday with iron ore near a seven-month low, as focus shifted back to a gloomy demand outlook after a short-lived optimism from the latest government rhetoric on economy stimulus.

The most-traded iron ore, for September delivery, on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 ended morning trade down 0.8% at 653.50 yuan ($96.64) a tonne, after earlier touching 646.50 yuan.

On the Singapore Exchange, steelmaking ingredient's front-month August contract SZZFQ2 fell 2.3% to $97.20 a tonne.

Concerns remain over COVID-19 lockdowns in China, the world's top steel producer, and the impact on future demand for steel products and raw materials, despite the goverment's oft-repeated pledge of policy support for the struggling economy.

The southern megacity of Shenzhen vowed to "mobilise all resources" to curb a slowly spreading outbreak, as authorities adhere to China's unique "zero-COVID" policy.

Risks from lockdowns have prompted the Asian Development Bank to lower its economic growth forecast for China this year by 1 percentage point to 4.0%.