BEIJING: Iron ore futures traded in a tight range on Friday, but were headed for a weekly loss due to mounting concerns over demand prospects in top consumer China amid an escalating global trade war.
The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) gained 0.13% to 761 yuan a metric ton as of 0214 GMT, posting a fall of 3.4% so far this week.
The benchmark April iron ore on the Singapore Exchange shed 0.55% to $99.95 a ton, a decline of 3.9% so far this week.
Iron ore rangebound amid China support for stocks and tariff concerns
China is mulling setting up related funds to build a compensation system to eliminate outdated steel capacity, Qian Gang, chairman of CITIC Pacific Special Steel, was quoted as saying.
That was interpreted by some analysts as another signal that Beijing is determined and serious about addressing the over-capacity plaguing the steel industry this year.
CITIC did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comments.
At its annual parliament meeting, China said it would restructure its giant steel industry through output cuts without elaborating details.
But an obvious pick-up in near-term demand curbed loss on Friday.
Average daily hot metal output, typically used to gauge iron ore demand, climbed 2.5% week-on-week to 2.36 million tons as of March 20, a survey from consultancy Mysteel showed.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE retreated, with coking coal and coke losing 0.58% and 0.83%, respectively.
Most steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced. Rebar added 0.48%, hot-rolled coil gained 0.3% and wire rod nudged up 0.06%. Stainless steel was little changed.
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