SINGAPORE: Iron ore futures declined for a fourth straight session on Wednesday, weighed down by weakening steel demand and an increase in port arrival volumes in top consumer China.
The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended morning trade 0.73% lower at 747.5 yuan ($101.96) a metric ton.
The benchmark February iron ore on the Singapore Exchange ticked 0.07% lower at $96.55 a ton. Shipments of iron ore into China have increased and port arrival volumes are high, Chinese consultancy Hexun Futures said in a note. Meanwhile, downstream steel demand has weakened, steel companies have ramped up blast furnace maintenance, and molten iron production has declined further, Hexun said.
“Steel mills have limited inventory replenishment, port clearance volume has decreased... and fundamentals continue to weaken,” Hexun said. Still, total portside ore stockpiles in China dipped by 1.53% from the previous week to 144.6 million tons, as of Jan. 3, according to Steelhome data.
In the rebar market, domestic production and demand are expected to decline further this year, continuing the trend from the previous year, Chinese consultancy Mysteel said. China’s rebar output is forecast to fall by 6% year-on-year to 202 million tons, while demand is expected to decrease by 7.2% to 199 million tons, Mysteel data showed. China attaches “great importance” to the remarks of Donald Trump, the foreign ministry said in response to comments on Monday from the US President-elect saying he has been in talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping through their aides.
Trump has previously threatened tariffs of over 60% and an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods. Most steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost ground. Rebar faltered 1.11%, hot-rolled coil shed 0.92%, wire rod fell 1.09%, while stainless steel gained nearly 0.6%. Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE fell, with coking coal and coke down 3.5% and 1.79%, respectively.
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