BEIJING- Iron ore futures were range-bound on Tuesday, as investors balanced the ongoing weakness in China’s struggling property market with the sustained demand for the key steelmaking ingredient, supported by stronger steel margins.
The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) was down 0.45 percent at 778 yuan ($107.54) a metric ton.
The benchmark April iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was little changed at $102.05 a ton.
“The latest new construction data still showed a dramatic fall, ruling out the possibility of a quick recovery in steel demand from the sector any time soon, weighing on prices of steel and its feedstocks,” said Pei Hao, a senior analyst at the international brokerage Freight Investor Services (FIS).
Sunac China once among China’s largest real estate developers, said on Monday it expects to report a wider loss for the year ended December 2024.
“But we do not expect to see a drastic price fall in the near term as consumption needs will be underpinned by improved steel margins,” FIS’ Pei added.
Steel margins have recently improved due to lower prices of raw materials, analysts at Maike Futures said in a note.
Around 53.25 percent of steelmakers were operating at a profit, as of March 13, compared with 50.22 percent in late February, a survey from consultancy Mysteel showed.
