BENCHMARK iron ore futures in China fell Friday and logged a fourth straight weekly decline as industrial demand remained sluggish due to steel output curbs in the country.

Capacity utilization rates of 163 blast furnaces at mills across the country stood at 62.39 percent, as of Friday, data from Mysteel consultancy showed, down from 66.17 percent a week ago.

“We expect iron ore prices to find a floor around current levels,” ANZ Research wrote in a note.

“But, constraints on China’s steel output are likely to remain until after the Beijing Winter Olympics, so the upside looks limited in the short term.”

The most-traded iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for January delivery, ended down 3.2 percent at 561 yuan (US$87.65) per ton. The contract fell 12.1 percent last week.

Prices for other raw materials also declined.

Dalian coking coal futures faltered 0.8 percent to 2,390 yuan a ton and coke prices slipped 1.9 percent to 3,046 yuan per ton. They rose 5.4 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, last week.

Weekly steel consumption in the world’s top metals consumer also dipped, down 2.3 percent from the previous week, according to Mysteel.

“Intensifying expectation on lower costs and weak demand will further drag steel prices,” analysts with Galaxy Futures wrote in a note, adding that futures prices are still lower than spot prices.

Construction rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged down 0.6 percent to 4,247 yuan a ton. Hot-rolled coils dropped 2.2 percent to 4,569 yuan per ton. (SD-Agencies)