BEIJING: Iron ore futures prices climbed to a more-than-one-week high on Thursday as investors and traders weighed firm near-term demand against high portside stocks while awaiting new direction on outlook from top consumer China.
The most-traded January iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) traded 0.45% higher at 778 yuan ($107.45) a metric ton, as of 0243 GMT. It hit 782 yuan earlier, its highest since Nov. 8. The benchmark December iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 0.86% higher at $101.9 a ton, as of 0233 GMT.
It touched the highest level since Nov. 11 at $102 earlier. “Ore prices found some support from resilient demand, with hot metal output hovering relatively high. But the upside room was limited by rising portside stocks because of more arrivals of seaborne cargoes,” said Zhuo Guiqiu, an analyst at Jinrui Futures.
“We expected prices to be range-bound in the short term.” The output of hot metal, which is a blast furnace product, is typically used to gauge iron ore demand. China will set the tone for the country’s economic development at a meeting in December and, so, in the short term, the market will give more weight to the macro economic factors, analysts at Huatai Futures said in a note, referring to the expectation of more stimulus next month. Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE advanced, with coking coal and coke up 0.51% and 0.13%, respectively.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained ground. Rebar rose 0.39%, hot-rolled coil added 0.2%, and stainless steel ticked up 0.3%.
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