Steel futures, meanwhile, extended gains on continuously recovering consumption. Apparent demand for rebar and hot rolled coil rose by 7% and 2% week-on-week, respectively.
At the same time, portside iron ore inventory in China shrank to 126.75 million tonnes as of Dec. 31, down 4.1% from last year's peak of 132.15 million tonnes recorded on Nov. 13, SteelHome data showed.