Hot-rolled coil (HRC) futures in China plunged on Wednesday, hitting their lowest in over 3-1/2 months, as the coronavirus pandemic dents demand amid an already slowing global economy.
The most active May contract of hot-rolled coil on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed down 2.3% at 3,186 yuan ($449.03) a tonne, the lowest since November 13.
"Downstream demand for HRC, mainly from manufacturing sectors such as autos and home appliances, are not good," said Zhao Yu, an analyst with Huatai Futures, adding that the spreading virus outside China since late March also affected HRC exports.
Major automakers halted production at plants in North America as corporations grapple with growing signs of coronavirus damage.
Exports of China's steel products slumped 27% in the Jan-Feb period.
Meanwhile, iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange also tumbled on Wednesday, slumping as much as 2.9%, despite Brazilian miner Vale saying that the resumption of its lost production capacity could be postponed due to the coronavirus.
CITIC Securities expected iron ore demand in Japan, South Korea and Europe could drop by 20 million tonnes in the second quarter.
"Global iron ore will shift to oversupply from shortage in the second quarter and prices face downward risks," the broker wrote in a note.
The most-traded iron ore contract ended down 1.7% to 639 yuan per tonne.
Spot prices of benchmark iron ore with 62% iron content stood at $84.5 per tonne on Tuesday, unchanged from the previous session.
Shanghai construction rebar, for May delivery, extended losses into a third session, down 1.6% at 3,352 yuan per tonne.
Stainless steel futures, for June delivery, edged up 0.1% to 11,985 yuan per tonne. Dalian coking coal dropped 0.9% to 1,244 yuan per tonne and Dalian Coke fell 2.1% to 1,731 yuan per tonne.
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