* China-U.S. trade row hitting global companies
* Coking coal futures hit 3-1/2 week low
* Chinese demand for coking coal, coke seen falling
By Manolo Serapio Jr
MANILA, June 22 (Reuters) - Shanghai steel prices fell on Friday and were on course for their biggest weekly loss since March, with risk appetite curbed by signs that a tariff war between China and the United States is hitting global companies.
Luxury carmaker Daimler DAIGn.DE cut its profit forecast
and BMW BMWG.DE said it was looking at "strategic options" because of the rising trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.
The German companies joined American farmers and Chinese solar panel and steel makers among the first casualties in what looks set to become a bitter trade war on a global scale of a kind not seen since the 1930s. President Donald Trump's planned implementation on July 6 of tariffs on $50 billion of imports from China "could spark a global market meltdown," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets and Stockbroking.
"While hope remains that the moves announced from Washington and Beijing are negotiating positions rather than concrete intentions, risks are high. Any escalation, or even a lack of news, could see further reduction in risk appetites," McCarthy wrote in a report.
The most-active October rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SRBcv1 was down 0.7 percent at 3,780 yuan ($581) a tonne by 0209 GMT. Hot rolled coil (HRC) futures SHHCcv1 slipped 0.5 percent to 3,879 yuan.
Rebar, used in construction, has lost nearly 3 percent this week and HRC, used in manufacturing, has fallen more than 2 percent, the most for these contracts since late March.
The price declines came even as Chinese steel demand remained mostly firm, as evidenced by a sustained drop in stockpiles.
Rebar inventories at Chinese traders stood at 4.77 million tonnes on June 15, down 51 percent from mid-March, data tracked by SteelHome consultancy showed. SH-TOT-RBARINV
Stocks of HRC have fallen 37 percent to 1.98 million tonnes during the same period, SteelHome data showed. SH-TOT-HRCLINV
Among steelmaking raw materials, coking coal on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DJMcv1 was the hardest hit, sliding as much as 3.5 percent to 1,166 yuan per tonne, its lowest since May 28.
Coke was steady at 2,141 yuan and iron ore DCIOcv1 gained 0.3 percent to 457 yuan.
China's demand for coking coal and coke is expected to fall due to Beijing's escalated anti-pollution campaign and ongoing industrial adjustment, Cui Pijiang, president of China Coking Industry Association, said on Thursday. iron ore for delivery to China's Qingdao port .IO62-CNO=MB dropped 0.9 percent to $64.88 a tonne on Thursday, the lowest since May 28, according to Metal Bulletin.
The spot benchmark has fallen more than 5 percent this week, the most since late March.
($1 = 6.5039 Chinese yuan)