Iron ore prices gained for the third straight session on Monday, rising more than 5% in China, while steel rebar and hot-rolled coils increased amid production controls due to power cuts.
According to Fastmarkets MB, benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China were changing hands for $119.31 a tonne, up 7.2% from Friday’s closing.
Benchmark iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for January delivery, rose as much as 5.3% to 715 yuan ($110.57) per tonne in morning trade. They closed up 3.5% to 703 yuan a tonne.
China’s massive industrial base has been wrestling with sporadic jumps in power prices and usage curbs since at least March, when provincial authorities in Inner Mongolia ordered some heavy industry, including an aluminum smelter, to curb use so that the province could meet its energy use target for the first quarter.
“Most bad news comes from China these days,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote Group Holdings, wrote in a note.
