Futures declined as much as 2 per cent in Singapore after slumping on Friday, when the Chinese government unveiled a debt-swap plan but stopped short of measures to directly boost domestic demand, including in the beleaguered property sector.
The steel-making staple has retreated by more than a quarter this year, hurt by China’s property slump and signs that miners are boosting production. With mills in the top producer struggling to sell steel domestically given the weak demand, exports of the alloy surged to the highest level since 2015 last month.
Port holdings of iron ore in China have expanded for the past four weeks to the highest level since early September. On a seasonal basis, the inventories are at their biggest ever for this time of year.
Iron ore futures fell 1.7 per cent to $US100.85/t at 10.45am after losing 2.8 per cent on Friday. In China, yuan-priced contracts in Dalian dropped 2.3 per cent, and steel futures in Shanghai also declined.
Shanghai Metals Market repeats witness on aluminium and alumina prices going opposite directions
Aluminium prices rise across the board on SMM, defying previous week’s declining trend
