Iron ore slips on falling near-term demand but heads for weekly gain
Updates closing prices
By Amy Lv and Mei Mei Chu
BEIJING, Aug 23 (Reuters) -Iron ore futures prices fell on Friday as a continuous fall in near-term China demand sparked renewed caution among investors, although expectations of improved intake in the coming peak construction season kept prices heading for a weekly gain.
The most-traded January iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) DCIOcv1 ended daytime trade 2.24% lower at 719.5 yuan ($100.81) a metric ton.
It posted gains of 1.8% week-on-week, but was still 23.2% lower from the beginning of the year.
The benchmark September iron ore SZZFU4 on the Singapore Exchange was 1.18% lower at $96.2 a ton, as of 0843 GMT, a rise of 4.6% so far this week despite a fall of 26% from early January.
Output of hot metal, an indicator to gauge iron ore demand, continued its fall for a fifth consecutive week, showing that near-term ore consumption remained subdued, said analysts.
Average daily hot metal output among steelmakers surveyed fell 1.9% on the week to 2.24 million tons as of Aug. 23, the lowest since early April, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.
Widening losses among Chinese steel mills also weighed on buying appetite for the key steelmaking ingredient.
Profitability among steelmakers dropped for seven consecutive weeks to 1.3% from 4.76% previously, Mysteel data showed.
The weekly gain came as persistent and sharp price drops propelled a wave of dip buying, especially ahead of 'golden September', when downstream construction activities typically pick up.
Iron ore fell to a more than one-year-low last week, dragged by the weakening steel market where prices of some steel products tumbled to multi-year lows, triggered by the requirement to switch to new steel standards amid protracted property woes.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange extended loss. Rebar SRBcv1 retreated 1.56%, hot-rolled coil SHHCcv1 slid 1.86%, wire rod SWRcv1 lost 1.75%, and stainless steel SHSScv1 dipped 0.29%.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE lost ground, with coking coal DJMcv1 and coke DCJcv1 down 3.35% and 3.08%, respectively.
($1 = 7.1372 Chinese yuan)
Reporting by Amy Lv and Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Mrigank Dhaniwala
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