Iron ore futures prices rose on Thursday for a third straight session, boosted by hopes of stimulus measures and upbeat steel data from top consumer China.

The Communist Party leadership’s four-day closed-door meeting that began on Monday is expected to release an outline of its next five-year policy.

Hopes lingered that China may unveil some stimulus to boost economic growth and shore up consumer confidence following a raft of downbeat data and amid massive uncertainties stemming from the trade friction with the United States.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will hold trade talks with the U.S. in Malaysia from October 24 to 27.

The most-traded January iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) closed daytime trade 0.39% higher at 777 yuan ($109.08) a metric ton.

The benchmark November iron ore (SZZFX5) on the Singapore Exchange was up 0.45% at $104.65 a ton, as of 0740 GMT.

Better-than-expected steel data, which pointed to firm ore demand in the near term, also helped prices, said one trader and two analysts.

Total inventories of some major steel products fell by 1.7% in the week as of October 23, and steel output rose by 1%, data from consultancy Mysteel showed.

However, a lingering expectation of weakening fundamentals in the fourth quarter, stemming from robust shipments and sagging demand, has limited the upside potential for the prices of the key steelmaking ingredient.

Australia’s Fortescue FMG posted a 4.2% rise in its first-quarter iron ore shipments on Thursday. Brazilian miner Vale VALE3 reported on Tuesday its highest quarterly iron ore production since 2018.

Other steelmaking ingredients coking coal NYMEX:ACT1! and coke (DCJcv1), surged 5.14% and 4.21%, respectively, to their highest level in more than two months, propelled by rising worries on constrained home supply, said analysts.

Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed. Rebar RBF1! rose 0.43%, hot-rolled coil EHR1! advanced 0.65%, stainless steel HRC1! gained 0.55% while wire rod (SWRcv1) dipped 0.12%.
Source: Reuters