Iron ore futures on the Dalian and Singapore exchanges rose in trading on Friday as sentiment improved, helped by data showing inventories at Chinese ports continued to decline last week.
The top-traded May iron ore futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) finished trading 0.29% higher at 866.5 yuan ($126.43) a ton. However, the contract marked a weekly decline of 4.3% and a monthly decline of 4.6%.
Concerns that China could cut crude steel production this year weighed on the market this week, along with lower-than-expected steel demand and prospects for higher ore supplies.
But sentiment improved after Friday’s port inventory data. Iron ore stockpiles at major Chinese ports fell for the fourth consecutive week by 4.3% to 136.05 million tons on March 24, according to data from consultancy Mysteel.
“Demand for ocean cargo (iron ore) to be shipped in April remained relatively stable, which could support the market in the near term,” said Pei Hao, a senior analyst at FIS international brokerage in Shanghai.
On the Singapore Stock Exchange, benchmark iron ore rose 1.42% to $119.9 a tonne in April, after falling 4.5% so far this week.
“It is natural to see the (iron ore) price recover after this week’s sharp decline. We believe that the price has almost bottomed out at this stage,” says a Shanghai-based iron ore analyst.
Prices of other steel raw materials, such as metallurgical coal and coke, also closed the day higher, with the former up 1.47% and the latter up 0.53%.
Source: Terra
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