Iron ore rises on improving China-Australia ties
The most-traded September iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) traded 1.11% higher at 773.5 yuan ($107.71) a metric ton, as of 0303 GMT.
The benchmark August iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was 0.84% higher at $99.75 a ton.
After a meeting in Beijing, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to a new Policy Dialogue on Steel Decarbonisation that would give Australia insight into Chinese government planning.
Albanese also said a decade-old free trade agreement with China, Australia's largest trade partner, would be reviewed.
With Australia's exports to China dominated by iron ore, Albanese travelled with executives from mining giants Rio Tinto , BHP, and Fortescue, who met Chinese steel industry officials on Monday.
Top iron ore producer Rio Tinto reported a 13% quarter-on-quarter increase in shipments and its strongest second-quarter production since 2018.
Iron ore futures rise on strong China trade data
Demand for steel in the manufacturing industry remains high, while expectations of supply-side policy actions have also driven prices, broker Galaxy Futures said in a note.
Still, weak fundamentals weigh on market sentiment.
Amid a persistent slowdown in China's property market, crude steel output in June fell 9.2% from the year before, leaving first-half production at its weakest since 2020.
This has offset positive sentiment building up in recent weeks on signs of robust demand, analysts from ANZ said in a note.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE fell, with coking coal and coke down 0.6% and 0.96%, respectively.
Most steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange lost ground. Rebar dipped 0.26%, hot-rolled coil decreased 0.25%, wire rod eased 0.09% and stainless steel gained 0.12%.
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