AIRLINK 170.57 Decreased By ▼ -2.58 (-1.49%)
BOP 11.18 Increased By ▲ 0.53 (4.98%)
CNERGY 8.41 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-1.29%)
CPHL 99.73 Increased By ▲ 2.27 (2.33%)
FCCL 46.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.65 (-1.38%)
FFL 15.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.27 (-1.75%)
FLYNG 27.55 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-2.06%)
HUBC 137.78 Decreased By ▼ -1.13 (-0.81%)
HUMNL 12.92 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.86%)
KEL 4.54 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
KOSM 5.36 Decreased By ▼ -0.19 (-3.42%)
MLCF 62.40 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (0.22%)
OGDC 212.16 Decreased By ▼ -2.59 (-1.21%)
PACE 5.42 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-2.34%)
PAEL 47.18 Increased By ▲ 2.32 (5.17%)
PIAHCLA 18.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.22 (-1.18%)
PIBTL 10.36 Decreased By ▼ -0.38 (-3.54%)
POWER 12.33 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (0.57%)
PPL 169.60 Decreased By ▼ -4.27 (-2.46%)
PRL 35.85 Decreased By ▼ -0.37 (-1.02%)
PTC 23.09 Decreased By ▼ -0.47 (-1.99%)
SEARL 96.26 Increased By ▲ 0.95 (1%)
SSGC 39.52 Increased By ▲ 0.39 (1%)
SYM 13.84 Decreased By ▼ -0.18 (-1.28%)
TELE 7.15 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-1.11%)
TPLP 10.03 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-2.53%)
TRG 63.48 Decreased By ▼ -1.20 (-1.86%)
WAVESAPP 9.99 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.5%)
WTL 1.31 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-1.5%)
YOUW 3.66 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-1.08%)
BR100 12,305 Decreased By -186.6 (-1.49%)
BR30 37,415 Decreased By -278.7 (-0.74%)
KSE100 114,853 Decreased By -1335.9 (-1.15%)
KSE30 35,217 Decreased By -533.1 (-1.49%)

BEIJING: Iron ore futures ended 2024 with a drastic decline of more than 15% as faltering demand, thin steel margins and high portside stocks in top consumer China dragged prices of the key steelmaking ingredient lower.

Prices rose on the day as sentiment was boosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s remark that this year’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by around 5%, although mounting caution following China’s slowing factory activity expansion in December pressured prices earlier the session.

The World Bank sees China’s gross domestic product growth at 4.9% this year, up from its June forecast of 4.8%. The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 1.17% higher at 779 yuan ($106.73) a metric ton. The benchmark February iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 0.23% higher at $100.4 a ton as of 0703 GMT after falling to $99.6 earlier in the session.

Year-to-date, the Dalian contract has fallen 16%, while the Singapore benchmark has slid 18.5% as demand wilted with China’s crude steel output falling by 2.7% year-on-year in the first 11 months of this year. A raft of stimulus measures unveiled by Beijing since late September to spur its sputtering economy helped the ferrous market recoup some losses caused by protracted property sector woes hitting steel consumption despite robust steel exports.

The new year should see more oversupply in sea-borne iron ore markets, said Tomas Gutierrez, head of data at consultancy Kallanish Commodities. “There are higher Australian exports coming and some important projects ramping up... So prices will be under pressure.” Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE advanced. Coking coal and coke gained 0.91% and 1.43%, respectively, although they posted annual falls of 44% and 32.5%.

Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed, but ended the year with falls between 11% and 25%. Rebar added 0.39%, wire rod rose 0.08% while hot-rolled coil eased 0.09% and stainless steel dipped 0.35%.

Comments

Comments are closed.