Iron ore futures rise on China's demand

MANILA: Iron ore futures rose on Friday as a decline in steel inventories in China rekindled optimism over demand for the steelmaking raw material, but the Asian benchmarks marked monthly losses as supply risks receded.

Iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange rose for a fourth consecutive session to close 2.1% higher at 794.50 yuan ($118.53) a tonne. It fell 0.8% in October.

It rose 1.1% to $112.33 a tonne by 0710 GMT on the Singapore Exchange, and was set to end with a 2.5% monthly decline.

Major steel products held by 184 Chinese mills monitored by Mysteel consultancy dropped for the third consecutive week over Oct. 22 to Oct. 28 to 6.05 million tonnes, as demand from end-users picked up.

A decline in weekly iron ore shipments to China from Australia also provided a boost to prices, but analysts said the uptrend in cargo arrivals looked intact.

"Average weekly arrivals at Chinese ports remain relatively robust while domestic blast furnaces slowly scale back output," said Atilla Widnell, managing director at Navigate Commodities in Singapore, which has a bearish price outlook for the remainder of the year.

A "healthy correction" could bring iron ore prices towards $100 a tonne by year-end and lower next year, as "the market is looking more balanced", said Erik Hedborg, a senior CRU analyst in London.