China steel futures rose on Monday, rebounding from a two-week low on falling inventory and fuelled by tightening output curbs in smog-prone cities pledged by the environment regulator ahead of the heating season.
The most-active rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, for January 2020 delivery, rose as much as 3.7% to 3,513 yuan a tonne, fighting back from a two-week low on in last session. It closed up 3.6% at 3,510 yuan per tonne.
Hot-rolled coil, for January delivery, also recovered after falling for five straight days. It gained 3.0% to 3,509 yuan a tonne.
Steel products’ stockpile in China dropped for the sixth week to 11.4 million tonnes in the week ended Sept.20 on firm demand outlook, data compiled by Mysteel consultancy showed.
The prices were also boosted by major steelmaking cities’ efforts in stepping up anti-pollution controls ahead of China’s National Day celebrations next week.
Tangshan, China’s top steelmaking city, ordered steel mills to cut sintering output by no less than 50% this week. Shandong province, which also falls under the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei pollution control zone, asked 13 cities to issue orange pollution alerts from Sept.25-29.
The most actively trade iron ore futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for January 2020 delivery jumped 2.4% to 648 yuan a tonne, clawing back from a five-day decline.
FUNDAMENTALS
Prices for spot cargoes of benchmark iron ore with 62% iron content for delivery to China fell for the fourth day to $93 per tonne on Sept.20.
China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment said last Friday it will set stricter targets for cities with higher concentrations of damaging particles last time around, but firmly oppose “one-size-fits-all” strategy.
China and the United States had “constructive” discussions on trade in Washington, the state news agency Xinhua said on Saturday.
BHP Group said on Monday it expects to meet all customer commitments on iron ore shipments, despite maintenance at its Jimblebar and Newman mines in Western Australia, after speculation in China last week about possible supply disruptions.
Other steelmaking ingredients were mixed, with Dalian coking coal edging down 0.1% at 1,300 yuan a tonne, while coke rose 2% to 1,982 yuan a tonne.
Source: https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com