BEIJING- Iron ore futures prices extended their declines to a third straight session on Wednesday, as weakening fundamentals of the key steelmaking ingredient outweighed more property stimulus in top consumer China.
The most-traded September iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) fell 1.83 percent to 884.5 yuan ($122.09) a metric ton after falling more than 2 percent on Tuesday.
The benchmark June iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 0.08 percent lower at $117.8 a ton.
“I am not that optimistic about iron ore, as the hot metal output is close to a ceiling while supply has hovered at a relatively high level,” said Chu Xinli, a Shanghai-based analyst at China Futures, adding that persistently rising portside stocks are further weighing on prices.
The persistent price decline came even as China’s city of Shenzhen, a key technology and manufacturing hub, will lower the minimum downpayment ratio required of first-time home buyers to 20 percent , while southern city Guangzhou will lower the ratio to 15 percent , local media reported on Tuesday.
The commercial hub Shanghai announced on Monday to lower the ratio for first home purchases to 20 percent , and cut the ratio for second home purchases to 30 percent for suburban areas and to 35 percent for the rest of the city.
