China’s steelmaking ingredients drop as steel demand weakens, Auto News, ET Auto
BEIJING:
Chinese steel commodities fell on Monday as demand remained weak, with coking coal and coke prices falling more than 4%, while benchmark iron ore futures fell after the gains. last week.The weekly steel output of China’s major steel companies stood at 8.9 million tonnes last week, down 2.5% from the previous week, according to data from consulting firm Mysteel.
“Average daily production of molten iron has remained at historically low levels … however, plant coke inventories are higher than the same period in previous years,” SinoSteel Futures analysts wrote in a report. note.
With the policy of controlling crude steel production likely to continue in the medium to long term, coking coal prices may fall further and demand for coke will struggle to return to high levels, SinoSteel Futures said. .
The most actively traded coking coal futures contracts on the Dalian Commodity Exchange for May delivery fell 4.8% to 2,177 yuan ($ 341.68) per tonne before ending down 4.2 % at 2,190 yuan per ton.
Dalian coke futures contracts closed 6.2% lower at 2,936 yuan per tonne. They lost up to 6.8% earlier in the session.
The benchmark iron ore fell 3.3% to 683 yuan per tonne, reversing gains in futures and spot markets last Friday. Spot prices of 62% iron ore for delivery to China rose $ 2.5 to $ 127.5 per tonne on Friday, according to consultancy SteelHome.
Steel prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were mixed.
Construction steel rebar fell 4.6% to 4,307 yuan per tonne, and hot-rolled coil futures fell 4.5% to 4,413 yuan per tonne.
Shanghai stainless steel futures, for February delivery, rose 0.1% to 16,720 yuan per tonne.
Profits made by Chinese industrial companies rose 9% on an annual basis in November, slowing from a growth of 24.6% in October, according to data from the Bureau of Statistics.
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“Due to the surge in electricity prices in Europe, some production capacities of non-ferrous metals, such as zinc and aluminum, are again restricted,” Huatai Futures analysts said in a note.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.5% to $ 9,491 a tonne at 02:40 GMT, while the most-traded copper contract in January on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 0.4% at 69,180 yuan ($ 10,853.47) per ton.