BEIJING: Iron ore futures slid on Friday, logging their second weekly loss, amid weak factory data and mounting doubts on whether policymakers in top consumer China will unveil bold policies to help its economy.

The most-traded May iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trade 1.75% lower at 871.5 yuan ($121.09) a metric ton, posting a fall of 3.6% week-on-week.

The benchmark April iron ore on the Singapore Exchange slipped 1.55% to $113.3 a ton, as of 0801 GMT, the lowest since Oct. 24, 2023. It also recorded a decline of 4.7% on-week.

China’s manufacturing activity contracted for a fifth straight month in February, an official factory survey showed, raising the pressure on policymakers to consider further stimulus measures.

A private-sector survey, however, showed both production and new orders grew faster, pushing business confidence to a 10-month high. China’s parliament is expected to unveil moderate stimulus plans to stabilise growth at an annual meeting beginning on Tuesday, but may disappoint those calling for a detailed roadmap of bold policies to fix the country’s deep structural imbalances.

Prices rose in morning trade on the back of prospects of growing demand and Beijing’s latest move to support its ailing property sector.

“Steel demand outlook improved ahead of the NPC (National People’s Congress) meeting; also, hopes mounted that mills will replenish raw materials and hot metal output will pick up,” said Zhuo Guiqiu, an analyst at Jinrui Futures.

Chinese regulators urged prefecture-level and above cities to establish a financing coordination mechanism before March 15 in a bid to support the country’s struggling property sector.

Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE were mixed, with coking coal up 0.11% and coke down 0.63%. Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange posted losses. Rebar fell 0.84%, hot-rolled coil dropped 0.61%, wire rod shed 0.35% and stainless steel lost 1.1%.