Iron ore set for weekly loss as soft China steel prices hurt demand prospects
Updates closing prices
By Amy Lv and Mei Mei Chu
BEIJING, Aug 16 (Reuters) -Iron ore futures fell fora fifth straight session on Friday, headingfor a second weekly loss, with bearish sentiment prevailing after weaker-than-expected steel pricesin top consumer China hurt thedemand outlook.
The most-traded January iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) DCIOcv1 ended daytime trade 0.99% lower at 697 yuan ($97.16) a metric ton.
It posted a fall of 6.1% from last Friday's closeand a decline of 26%so far this year.
The benchmark September iron ore <SZZFU4> on the Singapore Exchange slid 1.39% to$92.25 a ton, as of 0715GMT, recording a loss of 8.7%so far this week.
A steeper-than-expected fall in steel prices in Chinahas undermined sentiment, pressuring demand and prices for steelmaking ingredients including iron ore, said analysts.
Rebar SRBcv1, mainly used in the construction sector, slumped to the lowest since June 2017 during this week while hot-rolled coil SHHCcv1, typically used in the manufacturing area, tumbled to the lowest since April 2020.
They closed daytime trade0.71% and 1.8% lower, respectively.
Analysts at Macquarie said in a note that"55% of steel mills experienced decreased domestic orders into August compared to prior 30% ... property remains the main drag among end-user sectors".
"Steel mills showed less interest in restocking raw materials."
Average daily hot metal output among steelmakers surveyed extended falls into a third straight session, down 1.3% from the previous week to around 2.29 million tons as of Aug. 16, according todata from consultancy Mysteel.
Profitability among mills shrank to 4.76% from 5.19% previously, the data showed.
The conflict of a mismatch between supply and demand eased to some extent after ore prices touchedthe key production cost threshold of $90 a ton for some overseas miners, analysts at Huatai Futures said in a note.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE were mixed, with coking coal DJMcv1 rising 0.15% while coke DCJcv1 shed 2.3%.
The other two steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, wire rod SWRcv1 dipped 0.13% while stainless steel SHSScv1 added 0.52%.
($1 = 7.1736 Chinese yuan)
Reporting by Amy Lv and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Janane Venkatraman
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