SINGAPORE- Iron ore futures rose on Thursday, as the easing of strict COVID-19 curbs in some cities in top steelmaker China following a recent string of protests lifted demand sentiment.
The most-traded January iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange rose 0.1 percent to 767.5 yuan ($108.53) a ton.
On the Singapore Exchange, the benchmark December iron ore was up 1.4 percent at $102.05 a ton.
The giant Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Chongqing announced an easing of COVID curbs on Wednesday, a day after demonstrators in southern Guangzhou clashed with police amid a string of protests against the world’s toughest coronavirus restrictions.
Mainland China’s Health Commission reported 36,061 new coronavirus cases for Nov. 30, compared with 37,828 new cases a day earlier.
Market sentiment was buoyed by the apparent shift in China’s zero-COVID strategy.
However, weakness in the property sector persists – new home sales by the 100 biggest producer developers dropped 26 percent year-on-year to CNY 559bn in November, ANZ said in a research note.
Global miner Rio Tinto said on Wednesday its iron ore shipments in 2023 would be in the same range as this year’s forecast, and warned costs would be higher. – Reuters
