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Dalian iron ore up after hitting 2-week low
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SGX iron ore climbs, but still below $120/T
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Australia's Port Hedland braces for cyclone
(Recasts lead and updates prices)
By Enrico Dela Cruz
April 11 (Reuters) - Iron ore futures wobbled on
Tuesday, initially extending losses on concerns about weak steel
demand in China, before reversing direction as a tropical storm
headed toward Port Hedland in top supplier Australia.
The most-traded September iron ore on China's Dalian
Commodity Exchange ended daytime trade 1.5% higher at
798.50 yuan ($115.97) a tonne. It earlier shed as much as 1.7%
to 773.50 yuan, its weakest since March 27.
On the Singapore Exchange, the steelmaking ingredient's
benchmark May contract was up 1.7% at $119.50 a tonne,
as of 0700 GMT, also reversing earlier losses. It slumped to a
three-month low of $115.20 on Monday.
Port Hedland, the world's biggest export point for iron ore
and is used by BHP Group , Fortescue and
billionaire Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting, will be cleared
early on Wednesday as a tropical cyclone approaches, the Pilbara
Ports Authority said.
Iron ore's rebound followed selloffs spurred by
disappointment over a slow seasonal pickup in steel demand in
China.
"The peak season for steel demand is not strong," Huatai
Futures analysts said in a note.
With weak steel demand for infrastructure projects in China
and sluggish activity in the domestic real estate sector, they
said "the market pessimism has increased".
Fears of regulatory intervention in China to curb iron ore
prices have also dragged down futures below $120 a tonne since
last week.
China's state planner, the National Development and Reform
Commission, last week said authorities would step up supervision
of iron ore markets, asking traders to not deliberately
exaggerate price increases.
Other steelmaking inputs on the Dalian exchange also
advanced, with coking coal and coke up 0.5%
and 0.9%, respectively.
Rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 0.2%
and hot-rolled coil dipped 0.3%, while wire rod gained 0.1% and stainless steel rose 2.5%.
(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Subhranshu
Sahu and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
