Iron ore rallies as China pledges more ‘proactive’ fiscal policies in 2026

SINGAPORE: Iron ore futures prices rallied on Monday as top consumer China’s pledge of more “proactive” fiscal policies in 2026 boosted sentiment and demand hopes for the key steel-making ingredient.

The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) closed morning trade 3.03% higher at 800 yuan ($114.12) a metric ton, after touching its highest level since December 3 at 803 yuan earlier in the session.

The benchmark January iron ore on the Singapore Exchange added 1.32% to $106.05 a ton, as of 0343 GMT.

It hit the highest since November 27 at $106.3 earlier. China’s finance ministry on Sunday said fiscal policies will be more proactive next year and that China would boost consumption and actively expand investment in new productive forces.

Iron ore prices also found support from “some steel mills having resumed production after completing annual furnaces maintenance,” Chinese broker Everbright Futures said, which dictated more need for feedstocks, including iron ore.

Supporting iron ore prices was “improved steel margins thanks to lower production costs,” consultancy Mysteel said in a note.

Also, bolstering sentiment was temporarily easing of concern in the property market, as China developer Vanke’s bondholders approved a proposal by the state-backed developer to extend the grace period for the repayment of a 3.7 billion yuan bond.

Other steel-making ingredients on the DCE rose, with coking coal and coke up 1.13% and 0.61%, respectively.

Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed.

Rebar strengthened 1.09%, hot-rolled coil rose 0.98%, while stainless steel was little changed and wire rod fell 2.2%.