BEIJING- Prices of Dalian iron ore futures extended gains into a third consecutive session on Wednesday, supported by growing expectations of a wave of production resumption among steelmakers in top consumer China.
The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended morning trade 1.41 percent higher at 825 yuan ($114.60) a metric ton.
Hot metal output, widely used to gauge ore demand, is expected to see some rise this week, analysts at Chaos Ternary Futures said in a note, adding that the mounting cost competitiveness of ore following a significant price drop will likely increase its appeal.
Analysts at ANZ said in a note “the recent fall in prices appears to have sparked some opportunistic buying”.
Transaction volumes of iron ore at major Chinese ports surveyed climbed by 20 percent day-on-day to 1.27 million tons on Tuesday, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.
The benchmark April iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was, however, 1.35 percent lower at $105.2 a ton, weighted down by lingering concerns about the timing and scale of ore demand recovery ahead as well as the remaining high level of portside ore stocks.
