Benchmark 62 percent iron ore broke through $133 a tonne in mid-March 2023, its highest since June 2022, as traders bet that China's reopening would revive its property market and lift steel demand. The rally completed a V-shaped recovery from the lows of late 2022, when prices had slumped on lockdowns and weak construction. Forecasters assumed that stalled housing projects would restart and confidence would return to home sales, underpinning a steady recovery in steel consumption. In the event, the optimism ran ahead of the fundamentals: Chinese steel prices began to slide within weeks, mill profitability deteriorated, and iron ore gave back its gains through April. The March peak would stand as the high point for iron ore in the first half of the year.
Source: Mining Journal — https://www.mining-journal.com/bulks/news/1454992/iron-ore-makes-china-stimulus-mirage
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