Mon Sep 3, 2012
* China factory surveys point to soft Q3 economic growth
* Iron ore seen still under pressure after Friday's bounce
* India lifts iron ore mining ban in Karnataka
By Manolo Serapio Jr
SINGAPORE, Sept 3 (Reuters) - China steel futures fell nearly 2 percent on Monday after data showed the manufacturing sector in the world's top steel consumer was struggling to grow, suggesting a near-term recovery in demand is unlikely.
The decline in steel demand will put more pressure on iron ore prices, which stayed near their lowest level in close to three years despite a modest bounce on Friday.
China's factory sector has been badly hit by slowing new orders in a sign that the pace of growth in the world's No. 2 economy will weaken well into the third quarter.
The most-traded rebar for January delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped 1.8 percent to close at 3,351 yuan ($530) per tonne. It hit a session trough of 3,350 yuan, not far off the all-time low of 3,327 yuan reached last week.
"It's hard to see any recovery for the steel and iron ore markets when every bit of Chinese data only makes people more pessimistic about the economic situation," said an iron ore trader in Shanghai.
A slowdown in China's economic growth has slashed the country's demand for steel and raw material iron ore, and traders say prices are unlikely to recover unless Beijing drives up demand with more monetary stimulus.
Shanghai rebar futures have fallen 23 percent from this year's peak, while spot iron ore prices have dropped 40 percent.
Benchmark iron ore with 62 percent iron content .IO62-CNI=SI rose 0.8 percent to $89.40 a tonne on Friday, according to data provider Steel Index.
That was its first increase in about two weeks, although the price was still near Thursday's $88.70, the lowest since October 2009.
"The price stabilised on Friday but during the weekend we saw a further drop in spot steel prices, so I think iron ore may dip further this week," said another Shanghai-based trader.
The price of steel billet in China's key Tangshan area dropped about 40 yuan to 2,940 yuan per tonne at the weekend, the trader said.
"There's no improvement in demand and mills aren't showing signs of significantly slowing down," he said, referring to Chinese producers who are still making crude steel at near the record pace of around 2 million tonnes a day.
Chinese steelmakers are wary of slashing production too sharply, with the bigger, state-owned mills obliged to maintain employment, while the smaller mills are trying to keep their share of a fragmented market.
Miner BHP Billiton sold four cargoes of 61-percent grade MAC iron ore fines at $89 a tonne and two cargoes of 57.6-percent grade Yandi fines at $79 per tonne, both down by a dollar from previous deals, traders said.
In India, the country's top court allowed 18 mines to resume iron ore mining in the Karnataka state after a suspension of more than a year on environmental concerns, opening up about 5 million tonnes a year of production again.
But the potential increase in output from Karnataka is unlikely to affect flagging global iron ore prices unless the state allows exporters to ship the raw material overseas.
Shanghai rebar futures and iron ore indexes at 0714 GMT
Contract Last Change Pct Change
SHFE REBAR JAN3 3351 -60.00 -1.76
PLATTS 62 PCT INDEX 90.5 -0.25 -0.28
THE STEEL INDEX 62 PCT INDEX 89.4 +0.70 +0.79
METAL BULLETIN INDEX 89.7 +0.46 +0.52
Rebar in yuan/tonne
Index in dollars/tonne, show close for the previous trading day
($1 = 6.3484 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Miral Fahmy)
* China factory surveys point to soft Q3 economic growth
* Iron ore seen still under pressure after Friday's bounce
* India lifts iron ore mining ban in Karnataka
By Manolo Serapio Jr
SINGAPORE, Sept 3 (Reuters) - China steel futures fell nearly 2 percent on Monday after data showed the manufacturing sector in the world's top steel consumer was struggling to grow, suggesting a near-term recovery in demand is unlikely.
The decline in steel demand will put more pressure on iron ore prices, which stayed near their lowest level in close to three years despite a modest bounce on Friday.
China's factory sector has been badly hit by slowing new orders in a sign that the pace of growth in the world's No. 2 economy will weaken well into the third quarter.
The most-traded rebar for January delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dropped 1.8 percent to close at 3,351 yuan ($530) per tonne. It hit a session trough of 3,350 yuan, not far off the all-time low of 3,327 yuan reached last week.
"It's hard to see any recovery for the steel and iron ore markets when every bit of Chinese data only makes people more pessimistic about the economic situation," said an iron ore trader in Shanghai.
A slowdown in China's economic growth has slashed the country's demand for steel and raw material iron ore, and traders say prices are unlikely to recover unless Beijing drives up demand with more monetary stimulus.
Shanghai rebar futures have fallen 23 percent from this year's peak, while spot iron ore prices have dropped 40 percent.
Benchmark iron ore with 62 percent iron content .IO62-CNI=SI rose 0.8 percent to $89.40 a tonne on Friday, according to data provider Steel Index.
That was its first increase in about two weeks, although the price was still near Thursday's $88.70, the lowest since October 2009.
"The price stabilised on Friday but during the weekend we saw a further drop in spot steel prices, so I think iron ore may dip further this week," said another Shanghai-based trader.
The price of steel billet in China's key Tangshan area dropped about 40 yuan to 2,940 yuan per tonne at the weekend, the trader said.
"There's no improvement in demand and mills aren't showing signs of significantly slowing down," he said, referring to Chinese producers who are still making crude steel at near the record pace of around 2 million tonnes a day.
Chinese steelmakers are wary of slashing production too sharply, with the bigger, state-owned mills obliged to maintain employment, while the smaller mills are trying to keep their share of a fragmented market.
Miner BHP Billiton sold four cargoes of 61-percent grade MAC iron ore fines at $89 a tonne and two cargoes of 57.6-percent grade Yandi fines at $79 per tonne, both down by a dollar from previous deals, traders said.
In India, the country's top court allowed 18 mines to resume iron ore mining in the Karnataka state after a suspension of more than a year on environmental concerns, opening up about 5 million tonnes a year of production again.
But the potential increase in output from Karnataka is unlikely to affect flagging global iron ore prices unless the state allows exporters to ship the raw material overseas.
Shanghai rebar futures and iron ore indexes at 0714 GMT
Contract Last Change Pct Change
SHFE REBAR JAN3 3351 -60.00 -1.76
PLATTS 62 PCT INDEX 90.5 -0.25 -0.28
THE STEEL INDEX 62 PCT INDEX 89.4 +0.70 +0.79
METAL BULLETIN INDEX 89.7 +0.46 +0.52
Rebar in yuan/tonne
Index in dollars/tonne, show close for the previous trading day
($1 = 6.3484 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Miral Fahmy)
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