Iron-ore hits lowest since November as demand concerns escalate
Iron-ore hit a three-month low as the upcoming Lunar New Year and ongoing property market crisis cast a shadow over Chinese demand.
Benchmark futures in Singapore dropped for the fifth time in six sessions, sinking below $124 a ton overnight to hit the lowest intraday level since early November. Hot-metal production in China is muted, with pre-holiday steel demand generally weak, according to Huatai Futures.
The nation’s property market — the largest driver of steel demand — continues to face liquidity woes. More than 1 000 projects in 25 cities are seeking 373-billion yuan ($52 billion) in funding, according to a tally by Bloomberg Intelligence, which said it showed “the grave need for finance".
Iron ore has suffered from a poor start to the new year, retreating by about 11% in one of the weakest performances among major commodities. The steel-making staple has been dragged lower by China’s as-yet-unfixed property woes, as well as signs of abundant supplies from Brazil.
Construction-led steel demand is expected to drop to lower levels given that the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party aims to reduce leverage in the property sector, according to DBX Commodities.
Iron ore traded 1.5% lower at $124.25 a ton at 11:50 a.m. in Singapore, after earlier losing as much as 1.9%. In steel markets, rebar futures and hot-rolled coil in Shanghai both touched the lowest intraday levels since November.
On the London Metal Exchange, prices were mixed. Nickel headed for its first close below $16 000 a ton in almost three years, while tin, copper, lead and zinc edged higher.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation