* Shanghai rebar drops to record low anew
* China steel consumption drops 5.7 pct in Jan-Oct
By Manolo Serapio Jr
MANILA, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Shanghai steel futures dropped to a record low on Friday, applying more pressure on raw material iron ore that has fallen by a third this year as China's steel demand contracts.
Steel consumption in China, the world's biggest producer and consumer, fell 5.7 percent to 590.47 million tonnes in the first 10 months of the year, the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) said. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1381B3
China's steel consumption shrank last year for the first time since 1981, reflecting a slowdown in world's No. 2 economy that has shown no sign of abating this year.
The most-traded rebar for May delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SRBcv1 fell as far as 1,758 yuan ($276) a tonne, its weakest since the exchange launched rebar futures in 2009. It was flat at 1,767 yuan by midday.
Iron ore for immediate delivery to China's Tianjin port .IO62-CNI=SI was up 10 cents at $47.80 a tonne on Thursday, according to the Steel Index (TSI).
That's near a four-month trough reached last week, and not far off the July low of $44.10 which was the weakest for the spot benchmark since TSI began compiling data in 2008.
The price could inch back towards $50 by year-end as Chinese steel mills are likely to build some stocks ahead of the Lunar New Year, said Mark Pervan, head of research at ANZ Bank.
"But it's likely to be a disappointing restocking season because they (mills) are taking a cautious view on order books and the credit market's tight so they can't afford to be holding high stockpiles and their working capital is under pressure," Pervan added.
The price of iron ore is on track for a third yearly decline amid a global glut stoked by growing low-cost supply from Australia and Brazil.
But China's reliance on imported iron ore will remain as lower prices force more closures of high-cost mines at home, BMI Research said.
With Chinese iron ore production contracting, its share of global output will fall to 34.5 percent in 2019 from 42.1 percent this year, raising the share of Australia and Brazil, it said.
Rebar and iron ore prices at 0250 GMT
Contract
Last
Change Pct Change SHFE REBAR MAY6
1767
+0.00
+0.00 DALIAN IRON ORE DCE DCIO JAN6
352
+6.00
+1.73 SGX IRON ORE FUTURES DEC
45.7
+0.47
+1.04 THE STEEL INDEX 62 PCT INDEX
47.8
+0.10
+0.21 METAL BULLETIN INDEX
47.81
-0.77
-1.59
Dalian iron ore and Shanghai rebar in yuan/tonne Index in dollars/tonne, show close for the previous trading day ($1 = 6.3741 Chinese yuan)