BEIJING: Stainless steel futures in China traded higher on Wednesday, bucking the trend of other ferrous prices and gaining as much as 1.4%, as prices were pushed up by supply shortages of nickel ore and ferronickel.
The most-actively traded stainless steel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, for October delivery, closed up 1.2% to 15,165 yuan ($2,198.59) per tonne. It touched a high of 15,200 yuan per tonne earlier in the session.
"The tight (nickel) from Philippine and destocking of ferronickel have sent up raw material prices," Jinrui Futures wrote in a note, adding that the shortages in nickel ore and ferronickel are not expected to improve in short term.
Other steel futures on the Shanghai bourse fell. The most active steel rebar dipped 0.5% to 3,777 yuan a tonne.
Hot-rolled coils, used in the manufacturing sector, dropped 0.7% to 3,928 yuan per tonne.
Benchmark iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for January delivery, ended up 0.7% at 829 yuan a tonne.
Dalian coking coal dipped 0.2% to 1,218 yuan a tonne, while coke fell 0.4% to 1,923 yuan per tonne.
Spot prices for iron ore with 62% iron content for delivery to China fell to $122.5 per tonne on Tuesday.
China will speed up the release of special funds to local governments to support the economy, vice finance minister Xu Hongcai told reporters on Wednesday.
China's semi-finished steel product imports in July surged more than ten-fold from a year earlier to the highest level since at least 2016, customs data showed on Tuesday, fuelled by lower overseas prices and robust demand at home.-
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