Iron Ore Enters Bull Market as China's Curbs Supercharge Steel
- Steel-output cuts boosting product prices as inventories slump
- Citi flags further gains for iron ore in first quarter of 2018
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Iron ore has rallied back into a bull market. Prices are surging as China’s crackdown on steel output this winter runs down inventories, helping mills’ profitability and stoking demand for high-grade ore even as investors discount signs of ample supply.
Spot ore with 62 percent iron content jumped 3.7 percent to $72.68 a metric ton, the highest since Sept. 14, according to Metal Bulletin Ltd. That’s more than 20 percent up from the low hit in late October, meeting the common bull-market definition. Earlier, on Monday, futures in Asia rallied, with the SGX AsiaClear prices rising 2.9 percent to $71.29 a ton.