Iron ore futures firmer

The most-traded May iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange was up 0.8% at 871 yuan ($127.26) a tonne, as of 0307 GMT. On the Singapore Exchange, the steelmaking ingredient’s benchmark March contract was up 0.3% at $123.60 a tonne.

Iron ore has rebounded from around $80 a tonne in November, propped up by optimism around demand as Beijing ramped up policy support for ailing property developers and discarded its strict zero-COVID strategy.

Analysts, however, said the expected rebound in Chinese demand for steel has been slow so far, while indicators pointed to a property market still needing more stimulative policies to ensure a long-term recovery.

A sluggish domestic steel demand and elevated costs of steelmaking ingredients have thus squeezed mills’ profitability. “Overall iron ore prices have been suppressed by weak profits and a weak recovery in end demand,” Sinosteel Futures analysts said in a note, adding that the market was “still in the demand verification period”.