Iron ore futures fall for fourth session on China property woes

IRON ore futures fell on Friday (Mar 29) for a fourth straight session, as concerns over China’s property sector weighed on demand and port inventories rose.

The most-traded September iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) was down 2.44 per cent to 740.0 yuan (S$138) a tonne by market close at 0700 GMT.

On Thursday, ratings agency Fitch cut its forecast for China’s housing market and said that it now expects a 5 to 10 per cent fall in new home sales in 2024.

“Average daily hot metal production has been around 2.21 million tonnes for three consecutive weeks, which does not reflect demand in the peak season – the demand has been moved back,” said Pei Hao, a senior analyst at international brokerage FIS in Shanghai.

Country Garden, the country’s largest private property developer, on Thursday delayed the release of its 2023 financial results. Vanke, another major developer, reported a huge dive in 2023 core profit.

Total stocks of imported iron ore at China’s major ports rose for a 14th consecutive week to reach 144.3 million tonnes on Mar 28, data from industry consultancy Mysteel showed. That represents the highest level since April 2022.

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Imports from Brazil increased further, rising by 1.8 per cent on the previous week, Mysteel said.

Operating rates at China’s blast furnaces rose 0.81 per cent over the past week, data from consultancy Steelhome indicated.

Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE fell, with coking coal and coke closing down 4.77 per cent and 2.52 per cent, respectively. “Australian coking coal bidding during the week has been unsuccessful, and there are significantly fewer buyers in the FOB market than sellers,” said Pei.

Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped. Rebar was down 1.76 per cent, hot-rolled coil dropped 2 per cent, wire rod declined 1.62 per cent and stainless steel slipped 0.26 per cent. REUTERS