Iron ore consolidates, market awaits clarity on Sino-US trade talk progress

BEIJING, June 12 (Reuters) - Iron ore futures prices were range-bound on Thursday, as investors awaited more details on the trade talks between the U.S. and China, even as U.S. President Donald Trump struck a positive note.

The most-traded September iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) DCIOcv1 closed the morning trade 0.07% lower at 705 yuan ($98.16) a metric ton.

The benchmark July iron ore <SZZFN5> on the Singapore Exchange dipped 0.53% to $94.6 a ton, as of 0400 GMT.

Trump on Wednesday said he was very happy with a trade deal that restored a fragile truce in the U.S.-China trade war.

But Beijing has not confirmed the progress on the trade talks.

"If both countries could finalise a deal, it's definitely good news as it will remove some uncertainty for the export business; but at the same time, it may reduce the possibility of more stimulus (by Beijing)," said a steel mill manager on condition of anonymity.

Focus has temporarily shifted to the weakening fundamentals before there is more clarity on Sino-U.S. trade talks, said Ge Xin, deputy director at consultancy Lange Steel.

"Steel output has been declining for two weeks, indicating lower consumption of raw materials, including iron ore," Ge said

Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE lost ground, with coking coal DJMcv1 and coke DCJcv1 down 1.9% and 1.33%, respectively.

Most steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange shed. Rebar SRBcv1 lost 0.8%, hot-rolled coil SHHCcv1 fell 0.74%, wire rod SWRcv1 dropped 0.72% while stainless steel SHSScv1 added 0.76%.

($1 = 7.1818 Chinese yuan renminbi)