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Dalian, SGX iron ore set for weekly gains
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Iron ore miners see green shoots in China
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Dalian exchange sets iron ore trade curbs
(Updates prices)
By Enrico Dela Cruz
Feb 24 (Reuters) - Dalian and Singapore iron ore futures
dipped on Friday, with Chinese regulators seeking to temper
traders' excitement for stronger demand for the steel making
ingredient, though prices were still set for weekly gains.
Major iron ore producers such as BHP Group and Rio
Tinto said this week they have seen signs of a
rebound in Chinese demand, after Beijing lifted COVID
restrictions and rolled out supportive measures for struggling
property developers.
A brightening outlook for top steel producer China had
lifted the Dalian and Singapore iron ore benchmarks past the
$120-$130 trading range they had been confined to for weeks.
Spot prices also rose this week as Chinese steel mills
further ramped up their production. "Steel mills were said to be preparing for a busier
construction season in the next quarter with steel output up 6%
in early February," Westpac analysts said in a note.
The blast furnace capacity utilization rate among 247
Chinese steel mills under Mysteel's regular survey climbed for
the seventh consecutive week to 86.97% over Feb. 17-23, up by
1.22 percentage points on week, the industry information and
consultancy provider reported.
But prices have pulled back a bit following the Dalian
Commodity Exchange's (DCE) move to curb speculative activity.
The most-traded May iron ore on the DCE ended
daytime trade 0.2% lower at 909.50 yuan ($131.19) a tonne. It
was, however, on track for a weekly gain of nearly 3%.
On the Singapore Exchange, benchmark March iron ore was trading at $128.50 a tonne, as of 0719 GMT, down 1% from
Thursday but 1.6% firmer this week.
Steel benchmarks and other Dalian steelmaking inputs were
also subdued.
Rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange dipped 0.9%,
hot-rolled coil shed 0.3%, wire rod edged
down 0.1%, and stainless steel lost 0.4%.
Coking coal and coke edged up 0.3% and
0.2%, respectively.
(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Nivedita
Bhattacharjee and Rashmi Aich)
