BEIJING: Iron ore and steel futures fell on Tuesday amid risk-off sentiment ahead of a Chinese public holiday, but most contracts posted monthly gains on the back of better demand outlook from the property sector.
The most-traded September iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) closed down 0.1% at 874 yuan ($120.65) per metric ton. Still, it rose 16.6% this month, the best gain since June 2023. The benchmark May iron ore on the Singapore Exchange was down 0.6% at $116.50 a ton at 0706 GMT.
The contract has gained 16% gain so far this month. Markets in China, the world’s biggest steel consumer, will be closed for a public holiday during May 1-3. “Today is just some risk-off prior to holidays, which is very normal for a pullback in ferrous,” said a trader.
Outlook for the ferrous sector is neutral to slightly bullish due to China’s latest move to boost infrastructure spending, the trader said, adding that continued expansion in manufacturing activity also lent some support.
China’s state planner said last week it would guide local governments to accelerate the progress of project construction, a sector that consumes a large amount of steel products.
“(However) developers have not started bidding up land parcels like they’ve used to and steel consumption, in general, has not matched previous years’ strength,” the trader said.
There is also caution for seasonally lower Chinese steel consumption in summer where the hot and wet summer slows construction activities, the trader added. Steelmaking ingredients coking coal on the DCE fell 0.2% to 1,806 yuan a ton, while coke edged up 0.2% at 2,355 yuan.
Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) all fell. SHFE rebar ended down 0.4% at 3,656 yuan a ton, hot-rolled coil eased 0.3% to 3,804 yuan, wire rod tumbled 5.7% to 3,500 yuan and stainless steel lost 0.1% to 14,280 yuan.
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