BEIJING: Benchmark iron ore futures in China rose on Wednesday, tracking robust physical prices, despite expectations of higher supplies from miners in the coming months.
Spot cargoes prices of iron ore with 62% iron content for delivery to China were up $0.5 at $120 per tonne on Tuesday from the previous session, data compiled by SteelHome showed.
The January iron ore futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) remained range-bound in early trade and closed up 1.4% to 797 yuan ($119.99) per tonne.
"Trading volumes of spot cargoes are not bad recently which is supporting prices," said a Beijing-based trader.
"There's not much room for futures prices to drop though we expect more shipments in the future, especially as steel demand is still good."
Other steelmaking ingredients also gained. The most-traded coking coal futures on the DCE gained 0.9% at 1,349 yuan a tonne and coke increased 1.7% to 2,136 yuan per tonne.
Steel rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended up 0.9% at 3,650 yuan a tonne.
Hot-rolled coils, used in cars and home appliances, jumped 1.2% to 3,788 yuan per tonne.
Shanghai stainless steel, for December delivery, increased 1.6% to 14,695 yuan a tonne.
China's fiscal revenue in the first three quarters was down 6.4% year-on-year, finance ministry official Liu Jinyun said at a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday.
