SINGAPORE: Iron ore futures prices were little changed on Friday, but headed for a third consecutive weekly gain on recent infrastructure demand.
The most-traded January iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) traded 0.06% higher at 796 yuan ($112.48) a metric ton, as of 0301 GMT.
The contract is up 1.14% so far this week.
The benchmark December iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 0.56% lower at $106.1 a ton.
Recent infrastructure demand has increased, leading to continued improvement in apparent demand for steel, with prices expected to follow fundamentals in the short term, said Chinese broker Galaxy Futures.
Inventories of the five major carbon steel products held by the Chinese steel mills dipped for the seventh straight week by 2.5% to 3.9 million tons as of Thursday, the lowest since late January, data from Chinese consultancy Mysteel showed.
Total stockpiles of iron ore in ports across China dipped 0.42% week-on-week to around 139 million tons, as of November 28, according to Steelhome data.
On the supply side, shipments from top producers Australia and Brazil both decreased, while the number of ships in port was 115, a decrease of 8 month-on-month, said Chinese broker Everbright Futures.
Iron ore futures softened recently on worries over China’s property sector, but losses were capped after Bloomberg reported policymakers may roll out fresh support measures, said analysts from ANZ.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE lost ground, with coking coal and coke down 0.84% and 2.24%, respectively. Increased coal supply and continued inventory accumulation at coal mines have led to a recent accelerated decline in coking coal and coke prices, said Galaxy in the same note.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mostly up.
Rebar firmed 0.42%, hot-rolled coil climbed 0.18%, and wire rod gained 0.18%, while stainless steel dipped 0.44%.
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