Iron ore futures fell on Wednesday and were on track for a fifth session of declines, pressured by slowing demand for the steelmaking material in top consumer China.

The most-traded September iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) TIO1! ended daytime trade 0.5% lower at 695.5 yuan ($96.79) a metric ton.

The benchmark July iron ore (SZZFN5) on the Singapore Exchange shed 0.41% to $92.4 a ton as of 0702 GMT.

“Iron ore prices sank below $93 a ton as demand continues to slow down in China. Demand from China is likely to remain weak amid the continued slowdown in China’s property market,” said ING analysts in a note.

China’s new home prices fell in May, extending a two-year long stagnation, official data showed on Monday.

Production among China’s blast furnace steel firms slid for the fifth straight week from June 6-12, according to data from consultancy Mysteel, which attributed the fall to regular maintenance stoppages among the mills.

“The rainy season has slowed construction activity in southern China. In the north, high temperatures are contributing to a slowdown,” said ANZ analysts.

“Beijing’s efforts to curb over-capacity in the steel industry looks to be playing out,” ANZ said.

China’s crude steel output slid 6.9% from a year earlier to 86.55 million tons in May, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

Total iron ore stockpiles across ports in China climbed about 1.06% week-on-week to 133.4 million tons as of June 13, Steelhome data showed.

Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE were mixed, with coking coal NYMEX:ACT1! down 0.57% and coke (DCJcv1) up 0.62%.

Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained ground. Rebar RBF1! and stainless steel HRC1! were up around 0.1%, hot-rolled coil EHR1! gained 0.32% and wire rod (SWRcv1) added 0.43%.
Source: Reuters