SINGAPORE — Iron ore futures fell on Wednesday, and were on track for a fifth straight session of decline, pressured by slowing demand for the steelmaking material in top consumer China and a firmer dollar.
The most-traded September iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) lost 0.86 percent to 693 yuan ($96.42) a metric ton.
The benchmark July iron ore on the Singapore Exchange shed 0.68 percent to $92.15 a ton.
Steel production is slowing as the off-season sets in, and demand is likely to weaken further, said broker Galaxy Futures.
“The rainy season has slowed construction activity in southern China. In the north, high temperatures are contributing to a slowdown,” said ANZ analysts.
Production among China’s blast furnace steel producers slid for the fifth straight week during June 6-12, according to data from consultancy Mysteel, which attributed the fall to regular maintenance stoppages among the mills.
“Beijing’s efforts to curb over-capacity in the steel industry looks to be playing out,” added ANZ.
China’s crude steel output slid 6.9 percent from a year earlier to 86.55 million tons in May, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.
