Iron Ore Rises on Pre-Holiday Restocking

Iron ore futures climbed above CNY 710 per ton, recovering from one-month lows as Chinese steelmakers increased seaborne purchases ahead of the extended National Day holidays in early October. Industry data showed that daily trading volumes for seaborne cargoes surged 43% to 1.41 million tons on September 16 from the previous day. The demand outlook also improved after several Chinese steelmakers pledged to curb production in an effort to reduce steel inventories amid rapidly shrinking margins. Profitability across China’s steel sector deteriorated sharply, pressured by high production costs and weak steel demand. Recent data also showed that new home prices in China extended their decline in August, underscoring the continued drag from the country’s prolonged property market downturn.