Iron ore edges higher on anticipation of holiday restocking

BEIJING: Iron ore futures prices rebounded on Tuesday after touching a five-month low in the prior session, helped by the anticipation of a wave of restocking from steel mills in top consumer China for the Lunar New Year holiday.

The most-traded iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) added 0.66% to 758 yuan ($107.63) a metric ton, as of 0215 GMT, after falling 0.92% on Monday.

The benchmark January iron ore on the Singapore Exchange rose 0.41% to $101.95 a ton, as of 0205 GMT, after approaching the key psychological level of $100 in the prior session.

Chinese steelmakers typically book cargoes in advance to meet production needs during the traditional Lunar New Year holiday, when logistics slow.

Meanwhile, favour of medium-grade cargoes and the ban on two grades of ore from miner BHP have created relative tightness for the type of ore, supporting the corresponding index and futures prices against the index, said analysts.

However, higher supply capped losses. Shipments from major suppliers Australia and Brazil climbed 11.7% week-on-week to 29.67 million tons as of December 14, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.

Prices of the key steelmaking feedstock have come under pressure from concerns over growing supply and weakening demand in the fourth quarter, with China’s plan to regulate its steel exports from 2026 adding to demand woes.

Coking coal and coke, other steelmaking ingredients, dipped 0.62% and advanced 0.27%, respectively. Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange moved sideways.

Rebar rose 0.23%, hot-rolled coil edged up 0.28% while wire rod dropped 0.39% and stainless steel slid 1.67%.