SINGAPORE- Iron ore futures prices slipped on Tuesday, undermined by diminishing pre-holiday restocking among steelmakers and the gloomy demand outlook in top consumer China, which is struggling with a property crisis and slumping stock market.
The most-traded May iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) closed morning trade 1.43 percent lower at 931.5 yuan ($129.42) per metric ton.
The benchmark March iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 1.03 percent lower at $124.4 a ton.
There has recently been no drastic change in fundamentals and the ore market is more influenced by the macro market sentiment, analysts at Everbright Futures said in a note.
Putting further downward pressure on the ore market is the muted steel demand due to inclement weather and thinning stockpiling activity ahead of the upcoming week-long Lunar New Year holiday break, starting from Feb. 10.
“With the forthcoming holiday, stockpiling for raw materials among steel mills has basically ended. Market activity will be at standstill,” analysts at consultancy Shanghai Metals Market said in a research note.
The persistent weakness came despite more distressed property developers in China having had projects added to local authorities’ so-called whitelists, reflecting the rapid expansion of a government policy aimed at injecting liquidity into the crisis-hit sector.
