BEIJING: Iron ore futures prices rose for a second consecutive session on Friday, underpinned by renewed hopes for further stimulus from top consumer China and a flurry of pre-holiday replenishment by steelmakers.
The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 2.63% higher at 957 yuan ($133.04) a metric ton, the highest since Jan. 12. It posted a weekly rise of 1.3%.
The benchmark February iron ore contract on the Singapore Exchange ticked up 0.55% by 0722 GMT to hit its highest level since Jan. 16 at $130.15 a ton, recording a weekly gain of 2.1%.
“Ore market has recently been impacted more by the movement in sentiment on macro economy without drastic changes seen from its own fundamentals,” analysts at Everbright Futures said in a note.
Market sentiment was also lifted by China’s stock market rebound on Thursday from nearly five-year lows amid signs of state support.
Some steel mills are expected to stockpile feedstocks to sustain production during the Lunar New Year holiday break in February, supporting prices of the key steelmaking ingredient.
“The ferrous market found support from improved sentiment in the financial market; also lending support, some mills gradually resumed operations (of furnaces under maintenance earlier),” analysts at Sinosteel Futures said in a note.
Average daily hot metal output among mills surveyed edged higher by 0.51% week-on-week to about 2.22 million tons in the week ended Jan. 19, data from consultancy Mysteel showed. Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE gained, with coking coal and coke up 1.67% and 1.2%, respectively. Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced as well.
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