Iron ore futures extended gains into a second straight session on Tuesday to their highest levels in nearly a week, amid growing interest for stockpiling in top consumer China in part spurred by the latest batch of upbeat data.
The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended morning trade 4.52 percent higher at 820.5 yuan (about $114) a metric ton, the highest since Mar. 13.
The benchmark April iron ore on the Singapore Exchange rose 1.75 percent to $105.7 a ton, the highest since Mar. 14.
“The rise in fixed asset investment should help support steel demand,” analysts at ANZ said in a note.
Fixed asset investment expanded 4.2 percent in the January-February period from the same period a year earlier, official data showed on Monday, versus expectations for a 3.2 percent rise.
Also, signs of stabilizing futures prices the day before encouraged some mills to re-enter the market to procure portside cargoes, with the increasing liquidity in the spot market, in turn, boosting sentiment, analysts said.
Transaction volumes of iron ore at major Chinese ports climbed by 66 percent from the previous session to 1.06 million tons, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.
