SINGAPORE- Iron ore futures edged lower on Friday after a brief bounce in the previous session, dragged lower by a faltering property sector and steel production restrictions.
The most-traded September iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange ended daytime trade 0.1 percent lower at 846.5 yuan ($118.09) per metric ton.
On the Singapore Exchange, the benchmark August iron ore was down 0.9 percent at $113.8 per metric ton.
According to Mysteel reports, most re-rollers in top steel production hub Tangshan implemented production restrictions on Friday, resulting in the operating rate among the surveyed 35 re-rollers falling to 12.77 percent from 46.81 percent on Wednesday.
Some steel mills in Tangshan received oral notice to suspend one blast furnace until the end of the month, Mysteel added.
In Mysteel’s latest report, seven blast furnaces in Tangshan, with a combined production capacity of 26,000 metric tons per day, are scheduled to be under maintenance over July 21-31.
