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The weekly iron ore price rises on the back of improved China demand

The iron ore futures market was mixed on Friday but is expected to gain weekly due to the growing expectation of an increase in demand from China, which is the world's largest consumer, amid signs of improved steel consumption.

The May contract for iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange ended morning trade 0.48 % higher at 835.50 yuan (115.68 dollars) per metric ton. This represents a weekly increase of 5%.

A survey of Chinese steelmakers revealed that the average daily hot metal production increased by 0.3% from last weekend to 2.21 millions tons on March 22. This reversed a four-week downward trend, and profitability climbed from 21.21% to 22.94%, according to data from consultancy Mysteel.

First Futures analysts said that in April, "More mills undergoing equipment maintenance could resume production."

The benchmark April Iron Ore at the Singapore Exchange, however, fell by 3.12%, to $106.35 per ton, as of 0406 GMT. This was partly due to a stronger U.S. Dollar. The price has risen by 6.4% in the last week.

The iron ore market is expected to be fairly balanced, preventing prices from dropping much below their current levels. This is due to the low growth in supply and the demand from other industries that offsets the fall in residential real estate.

Coking coal and coke were both up 1.14% on the DCE, while coke was down 0.44%.

The steel benchmarks at the Shanghai Futures Exchange remained largely unchanged. Rebar rose 0.5%, while hot-rolled coils gained 0.34%. Wire rod dropped 0.72%, and stainless steel fell 0.33%.

Analysts at Huatai Futures wrote in a report that despite some positive signs the steel market still faces downside risks as current steel consumption remains lower than in previous years and stocks of steel remain high. ($1 = 7.2226 Chinese Yuan) (Reporting and editing by Amy Lv, Zsastee Villanueva)

(source: Reuters)