BEIJING, March 2 (Reuters) - Dalian iron ore futures
extended gains for a second session on Thursday as market
sentiment improved following the removal of production curbs in
key steel-making cities and on better-than-expected
manufacturing data from China.
Handan and Tangshan, China's top steel production hub,
lifted pollution restrictions on Wednesday after air quality
improved.
The most-traded May iron ore futures contract on
the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) was up 1.11% at 908.5 yuan
($131.93) a tonne, as of 0211 GMT. The contract gained nearly
2.5% in the previous session.
"The removal of production restrictions has partly
contributed to the rising [iron ore] futures prices this
morning. In addition, steel mills' iron ore inventories hover at
a relatively low level, lending support to prices," analysts
from Haitong Futures said.
On the Singapore Exchange, the benchmark April iron ore consolidated at about $126 a tonne.
Other steel-making ingredients-coke and coking coal
exhibited divergent trends. Coke moved 0.54% higher,
while coking coal nudged down 0.3%.
Expectations of growing demand for steel products in March
and April also lifted the steel-making raw material.
"Home sales by major developers rose in February for the
first time in 20 months, aided by positive signs of demand in
the steel sector," analysts from ANZ bank said in a note.
Transactions of construction steel products across the
country totaled 204,025 tonnes on March 1, posting a
week-on-week rise of 33.06%, data from consultancy Mysteel
showed.
Rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.48%,
hot-rolled coil grew 0.63%, wire rod gained
0.32%.
"The steel market has been destocking for the moment,
indicating improved demand from downstream sectors," said a
Shanghai-based steel trader, who requested anonymity as he is
not authorised to speak to media.
Stainless steel continued the downtrend with a
loss of 0.25%.
($1 = 6.8861 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Amy Lv and Dominique Patton in Beijing; Editing
by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
