BEIJING- Dalian iron ore futures prices rose for a third session on Wednesday, helped by strong expectations of pre-holiday restocking activities among steelmakers in top consumer China, although gains were limited by a weakening steel market.
The most-traded January iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) traded 0.23 percent higher at 858.5 yuan ($117.77) a metric ton.
“Factories will more or less stockpile some (iron ore) cargoes from ports to meet production needs over the upcoming week-long holiday break (starting from Sept. 29) as most mills have low inventories,” said a Chinese steel producer.
Iron ore transaction volumes at major ports surveyed climbed by 37.6 percent day-on-day to 1.56 million tons on Tuesday, while weekly inventories among mills surveyed was at 85.32 million tons as of Sept. 8, down 0.5 percent on the week and 12 percent on the year, respectively, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.
The benchmark October iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was, however, down 0.5 percent at $118.45 a ton as of 0228 GMT as traders excised caution on fears of a further rate hike by the Federal Reserve ahead of the release of key US inflation data.
