Iron ore prices in Dalian and Singapore reached one-week highs on Monday, helped by expectations that Chinese steelmakers will reopen dozens of blast furnaces that had been idled because of declining profitability and sluggish demand to restock stocks.
Easing Restrictions on COVID-19 in Shanghai and the elimination or relaxation of testing requirements in a number of Chinese cities also supported markets that had been pummeled over the previous two weeks due to worries about sluggish demand in the world's largest steel manufacturer.
On China's Dalian Commodity Exchange, the most actively traded September iron ore finished daytime trade 4 percentage points higher at 775 yuan (USD 115.7) per ton, after earlier reaching 782.50 yuan (USD 116.8), its highest level since June 20.
The front-month July contract for the steelmaking component on the Singapore Exchange increased by up to 5.7 percent to USD 120.60 a ton, marking its highest level since June 20.
Dalian iron ore fell 22% in a record 10-session sell-off up to June 23, while SGX iron ore fell to its lowest closing of the year on Thursday at USD 108.14 a ton, hurt by a slowdown in Chinese steel output.
According to experts at Sinosteel Futures, the market fear that was present last week has subsided. High stocks are anticipated to be reduced by limited steel production, they claimed, and "the decrease in supply will allow prices to cease declining."
Analysts claim that the general prognosis for China's ferrous complex has not significantly improved.
The materials and information on this article have been prepared or assembled by Viet Nam Steel and are intended for informational purposes only.
