Iron Ore Futures Prices Fluctuated Upwards Under the Support from Fundamentals

SHANGHAI, Mar 31 (SMM) - The prices of iron ore gained support from strong demand for finished steels and favourable macro policies and continued to rise. On the news front, relevant departments are currently strengthening the supervision on iron ore prices. On the macro front, China's PMI was lower than the previous value but higher than expected, confirming that the high-speed growth is unsustainable. In terms of fundamentals, overseas shipments declined slightly while the arrivals at Chinese ports increased corresponding to the previous increase in shipments. On the demand side, the output of pig iron rebounded to a high level, hence the port inventory continued to decline. Both trading volume and open interest of the most-traded I2305 contract decreased on a weekly basis last week. In the follow-up stage, the output of pig iron will peak in mid-to-early April. And the policies and demand for finished steel will have a greater impact on ore prices. It is expected that the iron ore prices will hover sideways this week.