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Iron ore extends losses as Shanghai steel sinks deeper

Published 01/12/2015, 01:46 pm
Updated 01/12/2015, 01:50 pm
© Reuters.  Iron ore extends losses as Shanghai steel sinks deeper
GS
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* Shanghai rebar falls to fresh all-time low

* Spot iron ore at 10-year low, has lost 40 pct this year

* China official factory PMI at 3-year low

By Manolo Serapio Jr

MANILA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Iron ore futures in China and Singapore fell further on Tuesday as Shanghai rebar sank to a record low on poor demand, putting more pressure on spot iron ore prices that have tumbled to their lowest in a decade.

Stocks of the steelmaking raw material at China's ports climbed to 87.65 million tonnes on Nov. 27, the highest since May, data tracked by industry consultancy SteelHome showed. SH-TOT-IRONINV

The port inventory has risen more than 10 percent since June, reflecting slow demand from Chinese steel producers, many of whom have been curbing production as falling demand widens their losses.

"A stabilisation in China's steel prices remains the key to sentiment for iron ore but the industry needs to cut output for this to occur," ANZ said in a note.

Iron ore for May delivery on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 was down 0.5 percent at 294.50 yuan ($46) a tonne by 0231 GMT, after touching a near five-month low of 290.50 yuan. January iron ore on the Singapore Exchange SZZFF6 slipped 0.2 percent to $39.35 per tonne.

The price of rebar, a construction steel product, lost more ground, with the most-traded May contract SRBcv1 touching an all-time low of 1,618 yuan a tonne on the Shanghai Futures Exchange.

China's steel consumption has been hit by a slowing economy.

Activity in China's manufacturing sector contracted for a fourth straight month to a three-year low, a government survey showed, adding to signs of persistent economic sluggishness despite a flurry of stimulus measures. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N13Q12B

Steel production in China, which accounts for about half of global output, will contract by an annual average of 1.4 percent between this year and 2019, Fitch Ratings' BMI Research said, citing a slowdown in Chinese fixed-asset investment.

"Excess capacity will decrease as existing steel mills that are unable to afford the capital costs to upgrade non-compliant mills to meet emission controls, resource efficiency and safety standards will close," BMI said in a report.

China's steel consumption shrank last year for the first time in more than 30 years and BMI expects the decline to continue through 2019.

That bodes ill for iron ore with the spot price dropping below $43 a tonne on Monday. Iron ore for immediate delivery to China's Tianjin port .IO62-CNI=SI fell 1.6 percent to $42.80 a tonne, the lowest on record at The Steel Index which began assessing prices in 2008.

Based on annual pricing that preceded the current spot-based system, it was the lowest since 2005, according to data compiled by Goldman Sachs (N:GS).

Iron ore has lost almost 40 percent this year, on course for a third annual decline.

Rebar and iron ore prices at 0231 GMT

Contract

Last

Change Pct Change SHFE REBAR MAY6

1636

-1.00

-0.06 DALIAN IRON ORE DCE DCIO MAY6

294.5

-1.50

-0.51 SGX IRON ORE FUTURES JAN

39.35

-0.08

-0.20 THE STEEL INDEX 62 PCT INDEX

42.8

-0.70

-1.61 METAL BULLETIN INDEX

42.97

-1.53

-3.44

Dalian iron ore and Shanghai rebar in yuan/tonne Index in dollars/tonne, show close for the previous trading day ($1 = 6.3980 Chinese yuan)

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