Iron ore futures subdued

Iron ore and steel prices in China hit multi-month highs in January as markets rallied from early November on the back of Beijing’s stepped-up policy support for its ailing property sector and dismantling of strict COVID-19 curbs.

The steelmaking ingredient has risen more than 9% this year on the Singapore Exchange, while steel benchmarks in China, the world’s biggest producer of the construction and manufacturing material, had also posted monthly gains since November.

Steel prices are “running strongly under the support of cost and positive expectations,” Huatai Futures analysts said in a note. But analysts said the demand-side support for iron ore needed to be verified. The most-traded May iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange ended morning trade 0.4% lower at 867 yuan ($129.17) a tonne.