Dalian iron ends higher as Tangshan lifts smog alert

By Reporting by Min Zhang and Shivani Singh | Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s iron ore futures closed up on Tuesday, shored up by expectations of higher demand after top steelmaking city Tangshan lifted its second-level smog alert.

The most-active iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for May 2020 delivery, closed up 0.3% at 667 yuan ($96.05) per ton.

Tangshan, which issued an orange alert last week for pollution due to deteriorating weather conditions, said on Monday it will lift its heavy pollution controls as the air quality was expected to improve.

Orange alerts, the second-highest after red in Hebei’s three-tier pollution warning system, require companies to take action to cut emissions and in some cases restrict output, although the province has a “positive list” exempting thousands of firms from production cuts. Full Story