SINGAPORE: Dalian iron ore futures prices climbed on Monday and were on track for monthly gains, aided by resilient demand in top consumer China, while recent comments from US President Donald Trump eased concerns over an intensification of US-China trade tensions.
The most-traded May iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) traded 1% higher at 810 yuan ($111.51) a metric ton, as of 0301 GMT.
The contract has gained 4.44% so far this month. China's financial markets will be closed on Jan. 28 until Feb. 4 for a public holiday.
Trading will resume Feb. 5, Wednesday.
The benchmark February iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 0.5% higher at $105.45 a ton.
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"Chinese iron ore prices picked up slightly driven mainly by the continuous recovery in ore demand from blast furnace steelmakers," Chinese consultancy Mysteel said in a note.
In January, the daily average production of crude steel of key steel enterprises logged a monthly rise of 0.3%, said Chinese consultancy Lange Steel, citing statistics from the China Iron and Steel Association.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump's comments that his recent conversation with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping was "friendly" have boosted Chinese equities.
Still, weak industrial data in the world's second-largest economy despite a raft of stimulus measures curbed price gains of the key steelmaking ingredient.
China's manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted in January, its weakest since August, and profits at China's industrial firms fell for a third straight year in 2024, official data showed. Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE gained, with coking coal and coke up 1.29% and 2.18%, respectively.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange strengthened.
Rebar rose nearly 0.6%, hot-rolled coil gained 0.41%, wire rod advanced 0.67% and stainless steel climbed 2.53%.
"The support the prices enjoyed was from the bright outlook for a production recovery at steelmakers after the break," Mysteel said in a separate note.
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