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.
Related Article: China plans iron ore giant to assert market control
China’s
property sector accounts for about a quarter of the domestic steel demand.