Prices for iron ore and steel products in China fell on Thursday, weighed down by weaker steel demand as storage needs eased following China’s Labor Day holiday.
Train carrying iron ore from Rio Tinto mine in Australia
Photo: Reuters
The most traded iron ore in September on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) closed down 1.7% at 865.50 yuan ($119.79) per ton.
June benchmark iron ore on the Singapore Exchange, however, rose 0.1% to $114.85 per tonne.
Other steel ingredients on the Dalian exchange posted losses, with metallurgical coal falling 2.4% to 1,769.50 yuan a tonne and coke falling 2.1% to 2,297 yuan a tonne.
“Demand has been weak following the long Labor Day holidays and we have had three consecutive days of low physical trading volumes,” said a trader.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) were mostly down but remained above their technical support levels, the trader said, adding that staying above these levels depends on the performance of physical demand.
Rebar fell 0.9% to 3,669 yuan per tonne, hot-rolled coil fell 0.7% to 3,807 yuan and wire rod lost 0.7% to 3,884 yuan, while stainless steel rose 0.2% to 14,185 yuan.
Financially-struggled Chinese developer Country Garden said it is unable to pay onshore coupons due on Thursday, highlighting ongoing problems in China’s property sector, a major steel consumer.
However, China’s pledges to reduce housing stock provided some support to ferrous prices.
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