Dalian iron ore futures finished higher on Wednesday after a session of directionless trading, as China’s plans to stabilise its property sector outweighed pressure from a decline in global crude steel output.

The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) closed day trade 0.26% higher at 779.5 yuan ($111.07) a metric ton.

The benchmark January iron ore (SZZFF6) on the Singapore Exchange ended 0.11% lower at $104.25 a ton.

China pledged on Tuesday to step up urban renewal and efforts to stabilise its property market in 2026 at the start of its latest five-year plan (2026-2030), aiming to improve the supply of affordable housing.

China’s property sector has remained under pressure since mid-2021, with weak home sales and falling prices weighing on consumer confidence despite repeated government attempts to shore up the sector.

Weighing on iron ore prices, data from the World Steel Association showed on Tuesday that global crude steel production in November fell 4.6% year-on-year to 140.1 million tons, while crude steel output in top producer and consumer China declined 10.9% to 69.9 million tons.

Meanwhile, major producer Japan’s crude steel output is expected to dip 1.7% in the first three months of 2026 due to weak demand from the construction and manufacturing sectors.

This would see the country’s annual output for the fiscal year ending March 31 decrease 3.2%, the lowest output since fiscal 1968.

Chinese blast furnace steelmakers slowed purchases of feed materials last week, taking only the volumes needed to meet immediate production needs to avoid losses, consultancy Mysteel said in a note.

Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE closed higher, with coking coal and coke (DCJcv1) rising 0.62% and 0.2%, respectively.

Most steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were up. Hot-rolled coil gained 0.09%, wire rod (SWRcv1) edged up 0.78%, stainless steel HRC1! strengthened 1.4% and rebar RBF1! inched up 0.06%.
Source: Reuters