Iron ore futures gained on Monday as earlier losses triggered by US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats were countered by signs of recovering demand in top consumer China and falling shipments from major suppliers.
The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 0.79% higher at 826.5 yuan ($113.16) a metric ton, the highest since December 10, 2024.
The benchmark March iron ore on the Singapore Exchange climbed 0.76% to $107.15 a ton as of 0712 GMT. It touched October 16, 2024’s high of $107.5 a ton earlier in the session.
Demand for the key steelmaking ingredient showed signs of recovery, supporting prices.
The average daily hot metal output, typically used to gauge iron ore demand, rose 1.3% from the assessment before China’s Lunar New Year holiday break to 2.28 million tons on February 5 among steelmakers surveyed, consultancy Mysteel’s data showed.
Markets were shut for the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays from January 28 to February 5.
Shipments from top suppliers Australia and Brazil slipped 32% to 18.98 million tons in the week ended February 9 compared to the previous week, Mysteel data showed, buoying sentiment.
It helped ore prices shrug off earlier losses on risk-off sentiment after Trump threatened to introduce 25% tariff on all US steel and aluminum imports, on top of the existing metals duties, in another major escalation of his trade policy overhaul on Sunday.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE traded mixed, with coking coal up 0.13% and coke falling 1.72%.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were weaker. Rebar lost 0.89%, hot-rolled coil fell 0.49%, wire rod shed 0.53% and stainless steel dipped 0.48%.
($1 = 7.3037 Chinese yuan)
(By Amy Lv and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Sumana Nandy)
