Iron ore rebounds as weak China data revives stimulus hopes

Iron ore futures gained on Wednesday, snapping multiple sessions of losses, after soft factory data from top consumer China bolstered hopes of a fresh stimulus to spur economic growth in 2026.

The most-traded iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) closed daytime trade 1.85 per cent higher at 769 yuan ($108.90) a metric ton after falling 0.7 per cent on Tuesday.

The benchmark January iron ore on the Singapore Exchange rose 0.84 per cent to $102.65 a ton as of 0748 GMT.

China’s factory-gate deflation, now in its third year, deepened last month, indicating weak domestic demand that is unlikely to recover soon.

The producer price index (PPI) fell 2.2 per cent year-on-year in November, versus a 2.1 per cent fall in October, and worse than the forecast for a 2 per cent drop, official data showed.While China is set to achieve its annual economic growth target of around 5 per cent, several analysts expect Beijing to roll out some supportive measures to underpin growth in the first quarter in 2026.

The rebound in iron ore prices came even as analysts at state-run China Mineral Resources Group (CMRG) argued the current price trend deviated from fundamentals.

“The speculative activities among traders have amplified price fluctuations,” CMRG analysts were quoted as saying in a statement on the WeChat account of the state-backed steel association on Tuesday.”Prices do not have grounds for trending up in the fourth quarter against backdrop of growing supply and weakening demand.”

CMRG was set up in 2022 to centralise iron ore purchases and win better terms from miners.

Other steelmaking ingredients, coking coal and fell 1.29 per cent and added 0.36 per cent, respectively.

Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained ground. Rebar rose 0.97 per cent, hot-rolled coil climbed 0.58 per cent, wire rod advanced 0.27 per cent and stainless steel gained 0.24 per cent.