The steel-making ingredient shot through $140 a tonne last week after spending most of May fluctuating around $130 a tonne.
Benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China rose 1.8% Monday morning, to $144.55 per tonne.
Futures in Dalian climbed 1.1% after a trading pause for a public holiday on Friday.
Iron ore inventories at major ports plunged to their lowest levels for the year, reaching an eight-month low, according to Steelhome data.
And steelmaking margins are expanding again after shrinking to a 15-month low in May.
Still, investors will likely await firmer signs that China’s cities won’t move back into lockdowns again given the country’s Covid Zero policy. And any production curbs on steel will also be monitored after an earlier pledge for output to drop again this year, Baocheng Futures wrote in a note.
(With files from Reuters)
