Iron ore price bounced back above the $100 mark on Monday, as China sought to ease concerns over financial distress facing its property sector.
According to Fastmarkets MB, benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China were changing hands for $100.38 a tonne Monday morning, up 4.52%, rebounding from an eight-month low of $96 hit on Friday.
On China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange, the most-traded September iron ore contract ended daytime trade 2.2% higher at 679 yuan ($100.63) a tonne.
Chinese regulators on Sunday urged banks to extend loans to qualified real estate projects and meet developers financing needs where reasonable, in their latest efforts to ease concerns triggered by a widening mortgage-payment boycott on unfinished houses.
A growing number of home buyers across China threatened to stop making mortgage payments for stalled property projects, aggravating a real-estate crisis that has already hit the economy.
“The rapid escalation in mortgage repayment refusals underscores the importance of policy support to revive housing buyers’ confidence and stabilize the housing price,” J.P.Morgan analysts said in a note.
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China’s property sector accounts for about a quarter of the domestic steel demand.
(With files from Reuters)
