MANILA: Chinese ferrous futures rose on Monday, with iron ore hitting a six-month high while other steelmaking ingredients recouped from multi-month losses, as soaring oil prices and an annual economic forecast by the world’s second-largest economy lifted sentiment.
Benchmark iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for May delivery, jumped as much as 7.6% to 875 yuan ($138.39) per tonne in early session, the highest since Aug.30. Spot prices of iron ore with 62% iron content for delivery to China rose $5 to $159 a tonne on Friday, according to SteelHome consultancy.
Coking coal prices was up 9.2% at 3,151 yuan a tonne, as of 0208 GMT, after climbing 12.9% earlier in the session. Coke futures on the Dalian bourse powered 5.6% to 3,788 yuan per tonne.
“The ferrous prices were mainly stimulated by the oil market today,” said Wu Shiping, analyst with Tianfeng Futures. “As the leading commodity, jump in oil prices could be indicative and affect costs in many sectors.” Oil prices spiked to the highest since 2008 on Monday after the United States and European allies mull a Russian oil import ban while delays in the potential return of Iranian crude to global markets fuelled tight supply fears.
China has set its 2022 economic growth target at around 5.5%, slower than last year, as headwinds including an uncertain global recovery and a downturn in the country’s vast property sector cast a pall on the economy. But the forecast was still seen by analysts as a tough one to achieve.
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