👀 Ones to watch: The MOST undervalued shares to buy right nowSee Undervalued Shares

China iron ore, steel fall a 3rd day, but losses smaller

Published 19/04/2017, 01:50 pm
© Reuters.  China iron ore, steel fall a 3rd day, but losses smaller

* Shanghai rebar, Dalian iron ore down for third day

* Spot iron ore fell 4.6 pct on Tuesday, down 20 pct this year

* Coking coal down 4.5 pct, coke falls 5.3 pct

By Manolo Serapio Jr

MANILA, April 19 (Reuters) - Chinese iron ore futures dropped nearly 2 percent on Wednesday, extending losses for a third day along with steel prices amid concerns supply was outpacing demand in the world's top steel producer and consumer.

But the declines for steel and iron ore were smaller than in recent sessions even as both commodities touched multi-month lows. Coking coal dropped more than 4 percent after lagging earlier losses in steel and iron ore.

"It's still because of sufficient supply and relatively slow demand," said Richard Lu from CRU consultancy in Beijing, on the sustained drop in steel prices.

"Prices are converging to what's justified by supply-demand fundamentals. Market sentiment is very bearish."

The most-traded iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 was down 1.7 percent at 474 yuan ($69) a tonne by midday break. The contract fell as far as 467 yuan, near Tuesday's three-month low when it tumbled 6.5 percent.

On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most-active rebar SRBcv1 was down 1.1 percent at 2,838 yuan per tonne, off a 10-week low of 2,811 yuan reached earlier in the session. The construction steel product fell 3.7 percent on Tuesday.

China's crude steel output reached a record 72 million tonnes in March as mills ramped up output in anticipation of a pickup in demand that has remained slow, government data released on Monday showed. steel demand has curbed appetite for iron ore with spot prices extending their descent.

Iron ore for delivery to China's Qingdao port .IO62-CNO=MB fell 4.6 percent to $63.20 a tonne on Tuesday, the lowest since October 2016, according to Metal Bulletin.

The spot benchmark has lost nearly 20 percent this year after an 81-percent rally in 2016.

Coal used in steelmaking fell more deeply on Wednesday after having lagged the declines in steel and iron ore futures. Dalian coking coal DJMcv1 was down 4.5 percent 1,062 yuan a tonne and coke DCJcv1 slid 5.3 percent to 1,545 yuan. ($1 = 6.8830 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.