BEIJING- Iron ore futures extended declines on Tuesday as mounting domestic supply and persistent demand concerns amid a lingering property slump undermined investor sentiment.
The most-traded January iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) traded 0.23 percent lower at 866.5 yuan ($118.78) a metric ton, after falling 0.2 percent on Monday.
The benchmark October iron ore on the Singapore Exchange fell 1.49 percent to $119.95 a ton as of 0255 GMT.
“We see it as normal downward correction after touching the resistance level,” said Cheng Peng, a Beijing-based analyst at Sinosteel Futures.
“It’s risky to build long positions at a price range between $120 and $130 per ton.”
Higher domestic supply also weighed on the key steelmaking ingredient, with output of run of mine (ROM) totaling 659.17 million tons in the first eight months of 2023, up 7 percent year-on-year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.
Concerns over the property market persisted despite a temporary relief after the embattled Chinese developer Country Garden won approval from creditors to extend repayment on another onshore bond.
However, other steelmaking ingredients extended gains, with coking coal and coke on the DCE climbing 3.26 percent and 1.24 percent , respectively, supported by tightening supply. – Reuters
