Iron ore price up as demand improves in China

The iron ore price rose on Monday as traders cheered a marginal improvement in consumption of industrial metals in China.

Apparent demand for five main steel products, including rebar, wire rod and hot-rolled coils, gained for two consecutive weeks and was up 4.2% last week from early-November, data from Mysteel consultancy showed.

“In the short term, the property-related policy is expected to see improvement, which could probably lift market sentiment,” Galaxy Futures wrote in a note.

According to Fastmarkets MB, benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China were changing hands for $95.63 a tonne, up 4.3% from Friday’s closing.

Concerns about the debt problems of Chinese property developers, a sector that accounts for about a quarter of the domestic steel demand, had recently added pressure on prices of iron ore and steel.

(With files from Reuters)