China iron ore drops to lowest level in five months

The price of iron ore in China has dropped to a level not seen since November, continuing a two-month slide and alongside housing price data that revealed a fourth straight month of slowing growth in March.

The futures contract price for one tonne of iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange was down 4.3 per cent at Rmb478.5 ($69.45) on Tuesday, an intraday low not seen since November 22.

Price growth for new housing in China slowed to a year-on-year rise of 11.3 per cent in March, down further from a peak of 12.6 per cent in November. While short-term price trends actually rebounded, that may not be enough to convince Chinese commodities investors the key steelmaking ingredient is worth the gamble.

On Monday, data showed China’s economy staged its strongest quarterly performance in 18 months, with an annual rate of growth of 6.9 per cent in the March quarter. Even that was not enough to prevent iron ore prices sliding yesterday.