BEIJING: Chinese ferrous futures advanced on Tuesday, with coking coal surging more than 7% on tight supply, while recovering steel production and downstream demand also boosted sentiment.
The most-traded coking coal futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for May delivery, soared as much as 7.6% to 2,470 yuan ($388.53) per tonne, their highest since Oct. 27.
“Imports of coking coal will fall significantly in February as portside inventory of Australian coal is being used up,” analysts with GF Futures wrote in a note, adding that supply could remain tight as blast furnaces had resumed operations.
Other steelmaking ingredients on the Dalian bourse also jumped. Coke futures rose 3.2% to 3,099 yuan a tonne, as of 0316 GMT.
Benchmark iron ore futures leapt 2.7% to 835 yuan per tonne, tracking a spot 62% iron ore, which gained $5 to $147.5 on Monday, data from SteelHome consultancy showed.
“Iron ore shipments from mainstream miners are normally weak in the first quarter, while molten iron production is expected to see a marginal recovery during this period,” said Cheng Peng, an analyst with SinoSteel Futures.
There’s still shortage in high-grade iron ore despite big stockpiles at ports, the analyst said. Construction-used steel rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 2.1% to 4,939 yuan a tonne.
Hot rolled coils, used in cars and home appliances, were up 2% at 5,055 yuan per tonne. Shanghai stainless steel futures, for March delivery, increased 2% to 18,100 yuan a tonne.
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