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Dalian iron ore futures down 2.48%
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Singapore iron ore futures lower 3.7%
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Near-term demand hopes prevent steel from falling too much
(Updates prices and adds bullet points)
BEIJING, March 20 (Reuters) - Dalian and Singapore iron
ore futures declined on Monday after China's state planner
issued another warning against speculation in the market and
fresh production curbs were imposed in major Chinese steel
cities.
China's National Development and Reform Commission said on
Friday it would look yet again at measures to curb
"unreasonable" iron ore prices and urged trading firms to avoid
hoarding and inflating prices.
Tangshan, China's top steel production hub, said on Monday
it would launch a level 2 emergency response after heavy air
pollution was forecast for this week. Handan, another major
steel city, implemented similar curbs on March 17.
"Some steel mills (in Tangshan) will reduce their sintering
capacity between 30% and 50%," said Wu Yuling, a Shanghai-based
iron ore analyst at consultancy Mysteel.
Steel mills currently have enough sinter ore inventory to
sustain normal production for around eight days, she added.
The most-traded May iron ore futures contract on China's
Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trading
2.48% lower at 883 yuan ($128.14) a tonne, the lowest since
March 3.
On the Singapore Exchange, the benchmark April iron ore was at $125.95 a tonne, as of 0800 GMT, down 3.7%. It
was down 4.7% from a recent high of $132.18 a tonne hit on March
15.
Other steelmaking ingredients also recorded losses. Coking
coal dipped 0.56% and coke shed 1.38%.
Steel prices also weakened but not as much as iron ore, with
market participants weighing optimism about near-term demand
against falling raw material prices.
Rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slid 0.94%
to 4,194 yuan a tonne, hot-rolled coil dropped 0.55%
and wire rod fell 0.87%. Stainless steel was
little changed.
"Prices (of stainless steel) corrected upward following a
steep fall in the previous week, but overall fundamentals remain
unfavourable," said Ellie Wang, a Shanghai-based senior nickel
analyst at consultancy CRU group.
($1 = 6.8911 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Amy Lv and Dominique Patton in Beijing; Editing
by Subhranshu Sahu)
