Iron ore futures rose on Friday, with Singapore’s benchmark contract rebounding after a five-session selloff, as a recovery in steel margins in China eased concerns over weak demand for the steelmaking ingredient.
Iron ore, however, was set for weekly losses amid worries about China’s ailing property sector, COVID-19 curbs, steel production cuts, and Sino-US tensions over Taiwan.
Iron ore’s front-month September contract on the Singapore Exchange was up 3.6 percent at $109.55 a ton, after touching its weakest since July 25 at $104.70 on Thursday.
On China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange, the most-traded January 2023 contract ended daytime trade 2.6 percent higher at 723 yuan ($107.18) a ton.
“Fundamentals have improved marginally,” Zhongzhou Futures analysts said in a note, citing a rebound in steel margins that has prompted the restart of some of the idled blast furnaces in top steel producer China.
However, several such facilities remain shut, while those already restarted were not operating at full capacity as the recovery in Chinese steel demand remains slow.
