Iron ore futures fell on Monday, as reports of an increase in COVID-19 deaths in top steel producer China renewed concerns over demand.
The most-traded May iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 ended day-time trade 4.3 percent lower at 832.5 yuan a ton.
On the Singapore Exchange, the benchmark February iron ore was down 4.4 percent at $120.00 a ton.
China said on Saturday nearly 60,000 people with COVID-19 had died in hospital since it abandoned its zero-COVID policy last month, a huge increase from previously reported figures that follows global criticism of the country’s coronavirus data.
China’s new home prices fell for the fifth straight month in December, as COVID-19 outbreaks hurt demand but the dismantling of strict pandemic curbs and expectations of more support measures have brightened the outlook.
“Potential downside market risks include the increased likelihood of additional COVID-19 waves, given the evolution of new variants on a virgin population,” said Atilla Widnell, managing director of Navigate Commodities.
“At the same time, we anticipate government bodies will step up the frequency and intensity of investigations into what they deem to be exorbitantly high iron ore prices,” he added. — Reuters
