Chinese steel rebar, hot rolled coils futures rise on demand hopes

BEIJING: Chinese steel rebar and hot rolled coils futures jumped on Thursday, as demand for the most traded May deliveries are expected to recover from the weak consumption season.

The most active construction rebar futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased 2.3% to 4,328 yuan ($679.53) a tonne as of 0330 GMT, extending gains to a fourth straight session.

Hot rolled coils futures, used in the manufacturing sector, also rose for the third consecutive session, up 1.3% at 4,714 yuan per tonne.

“Demand expectation (for May contracts) are improving and performs better than the January contracts, we expect steel products will remain strong in longer term,” GF Futures wrote in a note.

Shanghai stainless steel futures dipped 0.5% to 16,945 yuan a tonne.

Steelmaking raw materials on the Dalian Commodity Exchange were mixed.

Benchmark iron ore futures, for January delivery, edged down 0.1% to 622 yuan per tonne, while spot 62% iron ore stood at $105.5 a tonne on Wednesday , according to SteelHome consultancy.