Iron ore rises on China demand hopes, but set for monthly losses On Friday, iron ore futures rose as a decrease in China's steel inventories rekindled hope over demand for raw material for steelmaking, but the Asian benchmarks were expected to mark monthly losses on receding supply threats.
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ron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange in China increased by as much as 3.2 percent to 803 yuan ($119.80) a tonne for a fourth consecutive day. On the Singapore Market, it rose 1 percent to $112,29 a tonne. For the third consecutive week on Oct. 22-28, major steel products kept by 184 Chinese steel mills tracked by Mysteel consultancy fell to 6.05 million tonnes, as demand from end-users improved. This week, a fall in weekly iron ore exports from Australia to China also gave a lift to rates. However, in response to daily berth maintenance, iron ore shipments to China appear to fluctuate, said Atilla Widnell, managing director at Navigate Commodities in Singapore, which has a bearish market forecast for the remainder of the year. Widnell said, "Average weekly arrivals at Chinese ports remain reasonably robust whereas domestic blast furnaces are steadily scaling back production." By year-end and next year, prices may fell to $100 a tonne, said Erik Hedborg, senior iron ore analyst at CRU in London, citing a' safe correction.' "The business is looking more healthy and there is a steady decline in supply chain disturbances induced by port congestion in China," he said. FUNDAMENTALS FUNDALS
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• In the third quarter, Vale SA recovered its iron ore inventories and would reduce the disparity between supply and revenue over the next few months. • Strong investment on modernizing Chinese plants implies no disturbance from the normal curbs of winter development. • Rebar rose 1.3 percent on the Shanghai Futures Market, while the hot-rolled coil climbed 0.8 percent. Stainless steel slipped by 0.9%.
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• Coking coal leapt 1.1% and coke advanced 1.5%. www.skillings.net | 19
