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Dalian iron ore hits highest since July 2021
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SGX iron ore benchmark breaks past $130/tonne
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BHP eyes demand green shoots in top customer China
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Dalian bourse to continue strong market surveillance
(Updates prices)
By Enrico Dela Cruz
Feb 21 (Reuters) - Dalian and Singapore iron ore futures
surged past $130 a tonne on Tuesday after the world's largest
listed miner, BHP Group , flagged a brightening demand
outlook in top steel producer China.
BHP's confidence in China's economy was buoyed by green
shoots since the start of the calendar year, including new
loans, house prices and business sentiment surveys, Chief
Executive Officer Mike Henry said.
The most-traded May iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity
Exchange ended daytime trade 3.4% higher at 919 yuan
($133.80) a tonne. It earlier hit 922 yuan, the strongest for
the Dalian-traded commodity since July 2021.
On the Singapore Exchange, the steelmaking ingredient's
benchmark March contract surged by more than $11, or
about 9%, to $139.80 a tonne, the highest since last April. It
was up 2.2% at $131.20 a tonne by 0700 GMT.
"Fragile shoots of an emerging Chinese steel demand recovery
appear to be slowly developing strong roots, as bullish
high-frequency data extended into a second consecutive week,"
Navigate Commodities Managing Director Atilla Widnell said in a
note.
"If this trend extends for a third consecutive week – and
there's little to suggest otherwise – this should continue to
reinforce the renewed optimism around China's reopening
narrative."
Rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed
2.1%, hot-rolled coil gained 1.4%, wire rod rose 3%, and stainless steel added 1.6%.
Other Dalian steelmaking inputs such as coking coal and coke
rose 3.8% and 2.2% , respectively.
Iron ore broke past the $120-$130 trading range it had been
confined to for weeks, with traders brushing aside a fresh
reminder from regulators about ensuring market stability, and
portside stockpiles hitting a five-month peak. The Dalian exchange on Friday issued a notice saying it
would "continue strengthening daily market surveillance,
investigating and dealing with all kinds of violations, and
maintaining market order".
(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Vinay
Dwivedi and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
