MANILA: Dalian and Singapore iron ore futures fell on Tuesday, stretching losses as an expected seasonal pickup in China steel demand has been slow and weak so far, and with traders extra cautious about regulatory risks.
The most-traded September iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange shed as much as 1.7% to 773.50 yuan ($112.33) a tonne, its weakest since March 27.
On the Singapore Exchange, the steelmaking ingredient’s benchmark May contract dropped 1.2% to $116.05 a tonne, on track for a seventh straight session of decline. It slumped to a three-month low of $115.20 on Monday.
“The peak season for steel demand is not strong,” Huatai Futures analysts said in a note. With weak steel demand for infrastructure projects in China and sluggish activity in the domestic real estate sector, they said “the market pessimism has increased”.
Also weighing on sentiment, top steel producer China’s state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), last week said authorities would step up supervision of iron ore markets, asking traders to not deliberately exaggerate price increases.
Fears of regulatory intervention to curb prices have dragged down iron ore futures below $120 a tonne since last week. “The immediate prospect of weaker steel demand and any further NDRC statements on iron ore pricing have the power to destabilise the market,” said Navigate Commodities Managing Director Atilla Widnell. In the spot market, benchmark 62%-grade iron ore settled at $120.50 a tonne on Monday, after hitting a three-month low of $120 on Friday, SteelHome consultancy data showed.
Other steelmaking inputs on the Dalian exchange were subdued, with coking coal down 0.1% and coke up 0.1%. Rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 1.4% and hot-rolled coil lost 1.3%, while wire rod rose 0.7% and stainless steel climbed 1%.
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