Chinese iron ore futures rose for the second time on Thursday. Dalian iron ore rose more than 5%, with hopes of additional stimulus to help the world's second-largest economy offset the impact of the COVID-19 resurgence.
Mainland China's new local symptomatic cases dropped for the second day in a row, adding to the positive mood after Chinese Vice Premier Liu He's statements on Wednesday that he plans to take measures to stimulate the local economy.
Concerns over the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on trade between leading steelmaker China and the European Union have also dampened hopes for a potential progress in reconciliation talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
The top-traded iron ore for May delivery on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange ended day trading at 810 yuan ($127.61) per tonne, up 4.7 percent after gaining as much as 5.9% during the session.
On Singapore Exchange SZZFJ2, the most active iron ore contract for April fell 1.1 percent to $147.65/ton as of 0740 GMT, giving up previous gains.
Construction steel (rebar) rose 1.7% on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, while hot rolled coil SHHCcv1 rose 1.3%. However, stainless steel fell 1.5% as a price increase for the nickel-cooled SNIcv1 feedstock.
“There may be concerns that future (stainless steel) consumption in China may be dragged down by the epidemic,” Huatai Futures analysts said in a note, adding that local supply is also on the rise.
Dalian coking coal DJMcv1 increased 1.4% and coke 2.1%.
Spot iron ore to be shipped to China rose for the first time in a week on Wednesday, trading at $146.50 per tonne, according to SteelHome consultancy.
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