Iron ore rangebound as markets await China’s policy signal

BEIJING: Prices of iron ore futures moved in a tight range on Thursday, as investors and traders awaited policy signals from another high-level meeting in top consumer China.

The most-traded iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) rose 0.26% to 769 yuan ($108.91) a metric ton as of 0307 GMT.

The benchmark January iron ore on the Singapore Exchange fell 0.34% at $102.4 a ton as of 0257 GMT.

Expectations that Beijing will unveil fresh stimulus heightened after the US Federal Reserve lowered interest rates, analysts at Jinyuan Futures said.

China will keep expanding domestic demand and support the broader economy with more proactive policies in 2026, state media Xinhua said on Monday, quoting the Politburo, a top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party.

Investors and economists are now awaiting the annual Central Economic Work Conference in the coming days, where Beijing is expected to set key growth targets and policy priorities for next year as its seeks a solid launch of the new five-year plan.

On Wednesday, the International Monetary Fund urged China to make the “brave choice” of speeding up structural reform, as pressure grows on the world’s second-largest economy to shift to a consumption-led model and curb reliance on debt-driven exports.

The IMF upgraded its China growth forecast for 2025 to 5% from 4.8%, citing the production powerhouse’s strong outbound shipments, also lifting its 2026 forecast to 4.5% from 4.2%.

From the perspective of fundamentals, growing iron ore supply and weakening steel demand continued to put ore prices under pressure.

Other steelmaking ingredients, coking coal and coke , dipped 0.6% and 0.36%, respectively.

Most steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost ground.

Rebar dipped 0.35%, hot-rolled coil shed 0.12%, stainless steel lost 0.16%, while wire rod was flat.