MANILA: Iron ore futures fell on Friday, surrendering gains made earlier this week, after China’s state planner pledged to step up regulatory oversight of the market following another price rally in the steelmaking ingredient.
Authorities in China, which is the world’s biggest steel producer and buys about two-thirds of global seaborne iron ore, are again closely watching market dynamics, having discussed price movements with some futures companies.
The most-traded January iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange ended daytime trade 2.1% lower at 827.50 yuan ($112.61) per metric ton, after a 0.9% decline on Thursday, putting it on track for its first weekly fall in five weeks.
On the Singapore Exchange, iron ore’s benchmark October contract was down 1% at $113.05 per ton, as of 0700 GMT, following a 1.7% slump in the prior session. “Iron ore edged lower as Beijing targets market exuberance,” ANZ commodity strategists said in a note.
“Regulators told futures companies in a recent meeting to not deliberately exaggerate the atmosphere of iron ore price rallies and to analyse the market objectively.” Dalian iron ore rallied 14.4% in August, while Singapore prices climbed 8%, despite flagging steel demand from the ailing Chinese property sector.
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