BEIJING- Singapore iron ore futures reversed course to slip on Thursday, as traders weighed growing risks of intervention from authorities in top consumer China to curb prices, although prospects of improved demand capped losses.
The benchmark December iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was down 1.17 percent at $133.1 a ton. In the previous session, the contract scaled a nine-month high and also recorded an 11 percent jump since early-November.
The most-traded January iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) was flat at 984.5 yuan ($136.53) a metric ton, as of 0200 GMT, after drawing closer to the psychological level of 1,000 yuan a ton on Wednesday.
The DCE raised margin requirements for speculative trading on iron ore futures contracts to 15 percent from 13 percent from settlement on Nov. 20.
Iron ore prices flitted after fears of reinforced supervision from China authorities following a price rally partially offset hopes of sustained demand, analysts said.
Markets gauged an improvement in steel margins and mills have started stocking raw materials to meet production requirements in winter, they said.
“The fall in daily hot metal output might be eased by improving profitability among steel mills,” analysts at Huatai Futures said in a note. – Reuters
