Iron ore slides on falling hot metal output, but heads for 2nd week of gains
BEIJING, Aug 30 (Reuters) -Prices of iron ore futures fell on Friday, weighed by persistently sliding near-term demand and higher stocks in top producer China, but were headed for a second straight week of gains.
The most-traded January iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) DCIOcv1 traded 0.13% lower at 757 yuan ($106.70) a metric ton, as of 0255 GMT.
The benchmark October iron ore SZZFV4 on the Singapore Exchange was 0.28% lower at $101.55 a ton, but stayed well above the key psychological level of $100 for five straight sessions.
"Risks remained skewed to the downside in the short term; China's steel exports may come under threat as tensions rise with trade partners," ANZ analysts said in a note, forecasting a price of $90-$100 a ton for the rest of 2024.
Nippon Steel 5401.T and other Japanese steelmakers are urging Tokyo to consider curbing cheap imports from China.
Both benchmarks for the key steelmaking ingredient, however, posted a second week of gains, rising between 4% and 5%.
"Several factors jointly contributed to this wave of price rebound, including stronger expectation of a Fed (U.S. Federal Reserve) interest rate cut, better demand with peak construction season approaching and the suspension of steel capacity replacement," said Cao Ying, an analyst at SDIC Essence Futures.
Average daily hot metal output among steelmakers surveyed fell for a sixth straight week, dropping 1.6% to about 2.21 million tons as of Aug. 30, the lowest since mid-March, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.
"Steel margins have somewhat improved and hot metal output slowed down falling pace. But we believe the room for rebound will be limited considering the market remained oversupplied," Ying said.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE were mixed, with coking coal DJMcv1 down 0.68% and coke DCJcv1 little changed.
Most steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost ground. Rebar SRBcv1 dipped 0.4%, hot-rolled coil SHHCcv1 edged down 0.03%, wire rod SWRcv1 slipped 1.94% while stainless steel SHSScv1 added 0.43%.
($1 = 7.0948 Chinese yuan)
Reporting by Amy Lv and Naveen Thukral; Editing by Sumana Nandy
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