SINGAPORE — Iron ore futures prices eased for a sixth session on Thursday, as a protracted crisis in China’s property market continued to weigh on demand prospects for the steelmaking material.
The most-traded September iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) traded 0.36 percent lower at 692.5 yuan ($96.32) a metric ton.
The benchmark July iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was trading flat at $92.35 a ton.
Downstream demand in China has entered the off-season, and inventories continue to accumulate, said broker Hexun Futures in a note.
Total iron ore stockpiles across ports in China climbed about 1.06 percent week-on-week to 133.4 million tons, as of June 13, according to Steelhome data.
Moreover, real estate sales weakened and market sentiment has turned cautious, added Hexun.
China’s new home prices fell in May, extending a two-year-long stagnation, official data showed on Monday.
Demand for new homes in China is likely to remain substantially below the market’s 2017 peak over the next few years, Goldman Sachs said late on Monday, in a projection suggesting that the world’s second-biggest economy faces a long property slump.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the currency against six other units, was at 98.957 and set for a 0.8 percent gain for the week, its strongest weekly performance since late February.
A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated assets less affordable to holders of other currencies.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE languished, with coking coal and coke down 1.07 percent and 0.69 percent, respectively.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed. Rebar and hot-rolled coil lost around 0.2 percent each, while stainless steel gained 0.56 percent and wire rod inched up 0.06 percent.
