BEIJING: Iron ore futures prices extended their declines to a fourth straight session on Thursday, hitting their lowest level in more than 14 months, as persistently weak property data in top consumer China exacerbated pessimism over the demand outlook.
The most-traded January iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended morning trade 2.85% lower at 698 yuan ($97.52) a metric ton, a low since May 31, 2023. The contract is down 8.4% so far this month.
The benchmark September iron ore on the Singapore Exchange slid 2.7% to $93.6 a ton, as of 0424 GMT, the lowest since November 2022. Property investment in China fell 10.2% in the first seven months from a year earlier, after dropping 10.1% in January-June.
New construction starts measured by floor area fell 23.2% on year, after a 23.7% drop in the first half of the year, official data showed. The property market remains China’s largest steel consumer despite the sector’s falling share amid the protracted crisis since 2021.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange posted further losses with sharp price falls souring sentiment, analysts said. Rebar lost 0.9%, hot-rolled coil fell 2.01%, wire rod dropped 1.37% and stainless steel dipped 0.11%.
China’s crude steel output in July fell for a second month, declining by 9.5% from June, as many steelmakers carried out maintenance work amid a widening of already negative profit margins.
That brought the total in the first seven months to 613.72 million tons, a year-on-year fall of 2.2%. Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE somewhat recovered following sharp declines on Wednesday, with coking coal and coke up 1.32% and 0.03%, respectively.
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