SHANGHAI- Dalian iron ore futures extended gains on Tuesday, as traders remained optimistic about the near-term demand outlook amidst low inventories and a slower-than-expected pace in falling consumption due to production cuts among some steel mills.
The most-traded January iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) climbed 1.65 percent to 862 yuan a metric ton, as of 0203 GMT.
“Although hot metal output has recently been on the decline, the falling pace is relatively slow with the current output still at a comparatively high level for the period,” analysts from Shengda Futures said in a note.
“Daily hot metal output will likely fall to 2.42 million tons by the end of October and rebound to around 2.45 million tons, lending strong support to steelmaking raw materials.”
Robust demand has pushed China’s iron ore imports to a record of 876.65 million tons in the first nine months of 2023, customs data showed.
