AIRLINK 173.15 Increased By ▲ 15.74 (10%)
BOP 10.65 Increased By ▲ 0.28 (2.7%)
CNERGY 8.52 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (2.4%)
CPHL 97.46 Increased By ▲ 4.57 (4.92%)
FCCL 47.25 Increased By ▲ 0.52 (1.11%)
FFL 15.42 Increased By ▲ 0.54 (3.63%)
FLYNG 28.13 Increased By ▲ 1.15 (4.26%)
HUBC 138.91 Increased By ▲ 4.90 (3.66%)
HUMNL 12.81 Increased By ▲ 0.29 (2.32%)
KEL 4.54 Increased By ▲ 0.33 (7.84%)
KOSM 5.55 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (2.97%)
MLCF 62.26 Increased By ▲ 1.38 (2.27%)
OGDC 214.75 Increased By ▲ 6.23 (2.99%)
PACE 5.55 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (2.78%)
PAEL 44.86 Increased By ▲ 4.08 (10%)
PIAHCLA 18.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-0.53%)
PIBTL 10.74 Increased By ▲ 0.76 (7.62%)
POWER 12.26 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (2.51%)
PPL 173.87 Increased By ▲ 5.10 (3.02%)
PRL 36.22 Increased By ▲ 1.19 (3.4%)
PTC 23.56 Increased By ▲ 0.57 (2.48%)
SEARL 95.31 Increased By ▲ 2.21 (2.37%)
SSGC 39.13 Increased By ▲ 3.56 (10.01%)
SYM 14.02 Increased By ▲ 0.36 (2.64%)
TELE 7.23 Increased By ▲ 0.28 (4.03%)
TPLP 10.29 Increased By ▲ 0.29 (2.9%)
TRG 64.68 Increased By ▲ 4.01 (6.61%)
WAVESAPP 10.04 Increased By ▲ 0.34 (3.51%)
WTL 1.33 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (2.31%)
YOUW 3.70 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (1.37%)
BR100 12,492 Increased By 252.4 (2.06%)
BR30 37,694 Increased By 1300.9 (3.57%)
KSE100 116,189 Increased By 2036.1 (1.78%)
KSE30 35,750 Increased By 549.8 (1.56%)

BEIJING: Dalian iron ore futures hit an eight-month high on Friday, driven by favourable fundamentals and optimism about future steel demand.

The most-traded May iron ore futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) traded 1.04% higher at 919 yuan ($133.10) a tonne as of 0201 GMT. On the Singapore Exchange, the benchmark April iron ore was at $126.4 a tonne, up by 0.02%.

Mills are ramping up production but their iron ore inventories are relatively low, supporting iron ore prices, said a Shanghai-based iron ore trader, who requested anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to media.

The blast furnace operational rate of 247 surveyed steel mills across China stood at 81.07% as of Mar. 3, recording a year-on-year rise of 6.35%, data from consultancy Mysteel showed. Portside iron ore inventories, however, fell by 2.23 million tonnes week-on-week to approximately 140 million tonnes, data showed.

Steel prices are not rising as much as raw material prices, leaving mills struggling to generate profits, said a Shanghai-based iron ore analyst. Rising steel output will also prevent steel margins from improving, analysts from Huatai Futures said in a note. The expectation of growing demand from steel mills supported coke prices while increasing overseas supply prospects temporarily weighed on coking coal.

Coke moved up 0.76% while coking coal inched down by 0.3%. Steel futures prices were broadly on the up. Rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed by 0.97% to 4,260 yuan a tonne, hot-rolled coil gained 1.02%, and wire rod ticked up 0.28%. Stainless steel was flat.

Comments

Comments are closed.