SINGAPORE — Iron ore futures prices dipped on Friday and posted weekly losses on persistent property weakness in China as well as slowing demand for the steelmaking ingredient.
The most-traded September iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 1.24 percent lower to 718 yuan ($99.73) a metric ton.
The contract lost 1.51 percent this week.
The benchmark June iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 0.76 percent lower at $98.25 a ton, losing 1.81 percent this week.
Weakness in China’s property sector is expected to persist this year with home prices falling nearly 5 percent and set to remain stagnant in 2026, a Reuters poll showed.
“The inventories of finished steel products held by traders across China…decreased for a second week during May 16-22, thinning by 398,500 tonnes on week,” consultancy Mysteel said in a note.
The pace of the fall in stocks has slowed as demand from end-users contracted amid a mix of rain and hot weather across China, according to Mysteel.
On the demand side, three new blast furnaces resumed production and six blast furnaces were overhauled, said broker Everbright Futures in a note.
Hot metal output, typically used to gauge iron ore demand, decreased by 11,700 tons month-on-month to 2.436 million tons in May, Everbright added.
