Benchmark iron ore futures head for weekly fall

* Eyes on policy support as virus rattles markets

By Enrico Dela Cruz

MANILA, March 13 (Reuters) – Iron ore futures in China and Singapore slumped on Friday, as demand worries worsened on fears that the coronavirus pandemic could cause a global recession, although losses were kept in check by hopes for further policy measures.

Iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange ended the morning session 1.9% lower at 645 yuan ($92.06) a tonne and was down 2% so far this week. Futures on the Singapore Exchange dropped as much as 2.2%.

Although many businesses in China, the world’s biggest consumer of the steelmaking raw material, have reopened after weeks of shutdowns due to virus containment measures, overall demand for metals remains clouded due to growing fears that the outbreak would hammer global economic activity.

“The market has been looking for further central bank easing and global fiscal stimulus amid the COVID-19 outbreak,” ING commodities strategists wrote in a note.

“On base metals and iron ore, there have been growing hopes for China’s fiscal stimulus though there has been a lack of detail,” they said.