BEIJING – Iron ore futures fell on Tuesday for a fourth consecutive session, as steelmakers in top consumer China remained cautious on pre-holiday restocking amid lacklustre steel demand.
The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) slid 0.65 percent to 990 yuan ($138.31) per metric ton, following a drop of 1.1 percent on Monday.
The benchmark February iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 0.65 percent lower at $137.1 a ton.
“With the continuous fall in demand for construction steel products, both steel traders and downstream steel consumers showed limited interest in restocking steel products, which has hampered mills’ enthusiasm in replenishing raw materials,” analysts at Huatai Futures said in a note.
Analysts, however, expect some support from a possible flurry of purchasing in coming weeks to sustain production over the week-long Lunar New Year holiday break, coupled with a relatively wide price difference in spot and futures markets.
“Market sentiment is obviously weaker at the moment, but prices are likely to consolidate at a relatively high level given that the tight supply and demand fundamentals will continue,” analysts at Galaxy Futures wrote in a note.
