SINGAPORE: Dalian iron ore futures prices slid to their lowest in over two weeks on Monday as China’s latest stimulus package underwhelmed investors across markets, while softer economic data and firmer supply in the top consumer added pressure on prices.
The most-traded January iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 2.87% lower at 762.0 yuan ($106.10) metric ton.
The contract had earlier tumbled by as much as 3.5% to 754.0 yuan, its weakest since Oct. 25.
The benchmark December iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 1.91% lower at $100.6 a ton, as of 0710 GMT.
China unveiled a 10 trillion yuan ($1.40 trillion) debt package on Friday to ease local government financing strains and stabilise flagging economic growth, as it faces fresh pressure from the re-election of Donald Trump as US president.
The package disappointed investors, who were hoping China would announce extra fiscal buffers to pre-empt another round of fractious Sino-US tensions and trade barriers.
“The debt swap will not translate directly into growth,” said ANZ analysts.
The lack of direct fiscal stimulus implies policymakers have left room for assessing the impact of the next US administration’s policies, added ANZ.
“The market will now shift focus to the Politburo meeting and Central Economic Work Conference in December, where we expect more pro-consumption countercyclical measures to be announced.” Highlighting China’s sputtering economy, data on Saturday showed consumer prices rose at the slowest pace in four months in October while producer price deflation deepened.
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