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Iron ore ticks greater on hopes of pre-holiday restocking

Iron ore futures rates increased on Monday, aided by expectations of another wave of restocking by steelmakers in leading consumer China, although high portside stocks and concerns about need next year topped the gains.

The most-traded May iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended early morning trade 0.97%. greater at 781 yuan ($ 107.01) a metric lot. It struck the most affordable. level since Nov. 19 at 762.5 yuan a heap earlier in the session.

The benchmark January iron ore on the Singapore. Exchange was up 0.96% at $101.6 a load, as of 0326 GMT, after. touching the lowest given that Nov. 19 at $99.8 earlier.

Expectations of purchasing by Chinese steelmakers before the. upcoming holiday break provided some assistance to the secret. steelmaking component, stated analysts.

Although hot metal output has revealed indications of softening,. success among steelmakers has actually stabilised ... steel mills. continue to replenish iron ore, experts at Maike Futures said. in a note.

We anticipate mills still need to restock around 10 million. lots of iron ore before the Chinese New Year (CNY) vacation. break.

Typical day-to-day hot metal output slid for a 5th straight. week, data from consultancy Mysteel showed. Output fell by 1.3%. week-on-week to strike the most affordable level because early October at 2.29. million lots in the week to Dec. 20, according to the data.

Hot metal output is typically used to determine iron ore need.

Chinese steelmakers usually build up stocks ahead of the. CNY, which begins with Jan. 28, to fulfill production requirements throughout. and after the vacation break.

Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE made headway, with. coking coal and coke up 0.13% and 1.45%,. respectively.

Steel criteria on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were. greater. Rebar included 0.52%, hot-rolled coil. advanced 0.44%, wire rod ticked up 0.25% and stainless. steel jumped 1.17%.

(source: Reuters)