Iron ore advances after record China imports boost demand hopes

Futures gained for the fourth day in Singapore, and were up more than 4 per cent since Thursday’s close.

Prices have rebounded from a rocky start to the year, when traders were cautious about demand in China and awaited further stimulus, which was signalled by Beijing last week.

Sentiment got a boost from customs data released Monday that showed the world’s largest consumer of iron ore brought in a record 1.24 billion tonnes last year.

At the same time, China’s increasing imports has seen stockpiles accumulate, with port-side stocks at 14.66 million tonnes as of January 10, up from 12 million tonnes in the same period last year.