Black Friday is Now! Don’t miss out on up to 60% OFF InvestingProCLAIM SALE

China's steelmaking raw materials rise as capacity curbs may fall short

Published 02/11/2017, 02:53 pm
Updated 02/11/2017, 03:00 pm
© Reuters.  China's steelmaking raw materials rise as capacity curbs may fall short

* Coking coal, coke, iron ore futures all higher

* Steel output curbs may be less than expected

* Steel rebar futures hold steady

SHANGHAI, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Chinese coking coal and iron ore futures rose on Thursday as capacity curbs in top steelmaking city Tangshan may fall short of expectations, rebounding as prices of the two raw materials have nearly touched their import and production costs.

Tangshan, in northern Hebei province, will temporarily ban the use of total 18.21 million tonnes of its ironmaking capacity from mid-November until mid-March. Ironmaking by blast furnaces is a key procedure for making steel. most traded coking coal futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DJMcv1 rose to a session peak of 1,135 yuan ($172.27) a tonne, its highest since Oct. 23.

By 0221 GMT, coking coal had dropped back to 1,114 yuan a tonne, still up 3.3 percent from the previous session and on track to post the biggest daily gain in about three weeks.

China has planned to curb industrial production in 28 cities during the upcoming winter to tackle hazardous smog.

Tangshan has ordered steel mills to ban use of capacities at different levels in terms of a range of standards, instead of "one-size-for-all" cut, raising expectation that steel production might not fall as much as expected.

"The temporary (ironmaking) capacity cut is lower than the previous market expectation, and mills may not cut production as much as we expected, but the details haven't been announced yet, so the outlook is uncertain," said Bai Jing, an analyst with Galaxy Futures in Beijing.

"Meanwhile, iron ore and coke have already fallen to their cost levels, which has lent support to prices," Bai said.

On the Dalian exchange, iron ore on DCIOcv1 climbed 1.2 percent to 437.5 yuan a tonne, while coke futures DCJcv1 jumped 1.7 percent to 1,725 yuan a tonne.

Iron ore for delivery to China's Qingdao port .IO62-CNO=MB rose 1.4 percent to $59.35 a tonne on Wednesday, according to Metal Bulletin.

On the steel side, the most active rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SRBcv1 edged up 0.3 percent to 3,625 yuan a tonne.

($1 = 6.5885 Chinese yuan)

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.