BEIJING- Iron ore futures drifted lower on Friday and were headed for a weekly loss due to mounting concerns over demand prospects in top consumer China amid an escalating global trade war.
The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 0.33 percent lower at 757.5 yuan ($104.52) a metric ton, posting a weekly fall of 3.8 percent.
The contract hit its lowest since January 10 at 753.5 yuan a ton earlier in the session.
The benchmark April iron ore on the Singapore Exchange shed 0.85 percent to $99.65 a ton after hitting the lowest since March 11 at $99.05 a ton earlier. It is down 4.2 percent so far this week.
China is mulling setting up related funds to build a compensation system to eliminate outdated steel capacity, Qian Gang, chairman of CITIC Pacific Special Steel was quoted as saying.
That was interpreted by some analysts as another signal that Beijing is determined and serious about addressing the over-capacity plaguing the steel industry this year, weighing on the appetite for steelmaking feedstocks.
CITIC did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comments.
At its annual parliament meeting earlier this month, China said it would restructure its giant steel industry through output cuts without elaborating details.
But an obvious pick-up in near-term demand curbed loss on Friday.
