China Iron Ore Prices to Continue Rising, SMM Says

SHANGHAI, Mar. 1 (SMM) – Iron ore prices in China’s domestic markets advanced last week, and the rising trend is expected to continue into this week, Shanghai Metals Market predicts. 

“Supply tightness of domestic ore and production resumption at domestic BFs will be two main price drivers,” SMM iron ore analyst points out. 

Utilization rate at independent domestic iron mines hit a record low of 28.6 percent in February 2016, SMM survey finds. 

“Low utilization rates at domestic mines are not expected to change significantly for the foreseeable future, despite of recent price gains,” SMM analyst says, leaving supply tight. 

Moreover, new orders at steel end-user sectors showed a sign of rising after the 2016 Chinese New Year holiday, according to SMM, improving outlook for the upcoming traditionally peak demand period.  

SMM’s Steel-PMI was 45.00 in February, down 4.51 month-on-month, but up 10.76 year-on-year, with new order sub-index up 10.87 to 62.44 on a monthly basis.   

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