China's iron ore futures rose on Thursday, rebounding from two consecutive sessions of losses, after Beijing rolled out a raft of stimulus measures aimed at shoring up its slowing economy that will stoke construction projects.
The most-traded iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange saw the contract for January 2020 delivery move within a tight range in morning trade, and closed up 0.7% at 650 yuan per tonne.
China's steel futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) both recovered on Thursday as well.
Construction rebar futures for January 2020 delivery edged up 0.4% to 3,618 yuan per tonne.
ShFE futures for hot-rolled coil, used in cars and home appliances, gained 0.8% to 3,555 yuan per tonne.
The Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday that it would bring forward 1 trillion yuan ($142 billion) of the 2020 local government special bonds quota to this year, followed by a State Council document on lowering the minimum capital requirement ratio for some infrastructure projects.
"The stimulus is good news for the economy as both infrastructure projects and local government investments in China face capital shortages," said Liu Xinwei, iron and steel researcher at Sublime China Information.
But the ferrous market remains cautious as it expects a "soft landing" in terms of next year's demand, Liu added.
Dalian coking coal declined 0.6% to 1,225 yuan per tonne and Dalian coke dropped 0.2% to 1,860 yuan.
Shanghai stainless steel futures, for February 2020 delivery, slid 1.1% to 14,110 yuan a tonne.
Prices for spot cargoes of benchmark iron ore with 62% Fe content for delivery to China fell to $89.5 per tonne on Wednesday.
Tata Steel Europe said on Wednesday it had begun talks with its workers on a "transformation programme" that involves up to 3,000 job cuts, prompting an angry response from union leaders who said the plan needed to be revised.
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