Iron ore rangebound as investors weigh Sino-US trade talks, slow demand

BEIJING, May 9 (Reuters) - Iron ore futures traded in a tight range on Friday as investors weighed prospects of easing Sino-U.S. trade tensions against seasonally weak demand from top consumer China.

The most-traded September iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) DCIOcv1 traded 0.43% lower at 697 yuan ($96.14) a metric ton, as of 0241 GMT.

While the benchmark June iron ore SZZFM5 on the Singapore Exchange was up 0.45% at $96.95 a ton.

U.S. President Donald Trump predicted that punitive U.S. tariffs on Beijing of 145% would likely come down, the latest sign of a softening tone between the two superpowers.

The United States have unveiled details of a new trade agreement with Britain.

But analysts and traders maintained a cautious stance ahead of the Sino-U.S. talks this weekend.

While near-term ore demand remained resilient, signs of weakening downstream steel consumption have threatened to hinder any upside room, said analysts.

Average daily hot metal output - typically used to gauge iron ore demand - nudged 0.1% higher to 2.46 million tons week-on-week, as of May 8, the highest since October 2023, a survey from consultancy Mysteel showed.

Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE lost further ground, with coking coal DJMcv1 and coke DCJcv1 down 1.23% and 1.15%, respectively.

Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange retreated. Rebar SRBcv1 shed 0.98%, hot-rolled coil SHHCcv1 lost 0.75%, wire rod SWRcv1 fell 1.95% and stainless steel SHSScv1 edged 0.16% lower.

($1 = 7.2496 Chinese yuan)