Iron ore futures rebounded on Monday, breaking a two‑session losing streak, as policy support headlines from China and fresh supply disruptions fueled bullish sentiment.
The most-traded January iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) traded 0.44% higher at 790.5 yuan ($111.23) a metric ton.
The benchmark December iron ore (SZZFZ5) on the Singapore Exchange climbed 0.87% to $104.85 a ton, as of 0700 GMT.
Iron ore prices firmed last week after Chinese state media signaled Beijing may roll out support for the property sector, including mortgage subsidies for first‑time buyers, higher income tax rebates for borrowers, and lower housing transaction costs, said ANZ analysts.
Recent supply-side disruptions provided support to iron ore prices, impacting short-term market sentiment, said broker Galaxy Futures.
China’s state-owned iron ore buyer had ordered steel mills to halt purchases of a type of BHP iron ore last week, adding to a separate ban already in place and escalating a dispute over a new contract.
Still, with inventories elevated and demand softening going into winter, the China Iron & Steel Association expects domestic steel prices to remain under pressure for the foreseeable future, according to its latest monthly report.
While global steel production fell 5.9% year-on-year in October, crude steel output in top producer and consumer China dipped 12.1%, per data from the World Steel Association.
Total iron ore stockpiles across ports in China edged up 0.03% week-on-week to about 139.6 million tons as of November 21, SteelHome data showed.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE were mixed, with coking coal down 1.48% and coke (DCJcv1) up 0.03%.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly up. Rebar rose 0.95%, hot-rolled coil gained 0.67%, wire rod (SWRcv1) climbed 1.09% and stainless steel dipped 0.2%.
Source: Reuters
