Iron ore slides as traders fear China crackdown, weather disruptions

BEIJING, April 3 (Reuters) - Prices of Dalian and Singapore futures dropped on Monday amid lacklustre sentiment as traders feared inclement weather across China could disrupt construction activities and the prospects of government intervention following the price surge last week. Rainstorm and a drastic drop in temperature levels are likely to affect many Chinese regions, according to the National Meteorological Centre. A wide-range inclement weather is also expected to impact downstream steel consumption. Moreover, fears of China's state planner issuing another warning to rein in iron ore prices undermined overall sentiment, analysts said.

China's National Development and Reform Commision issued several warnings on iron ore hoarding and speculative activities in the past month on rising prices.

The most-traded May iron ore futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended the morning trading session 1.43% lower at 896 yuan ($130.02)a tonne, following a nearly 5% jump in the past week. On the Singapore Exchange, benchmark May iron ore lost 3.45% to $121 a tonne by 0336 GMT, after posting a 5.1% jump last week. Other steelmaking raw materials - coking coal and coke - similarly weakened, with the former dropping 2.68% and the latter losing 2.53%. Prices of steel futures also showed signs of weakening across the board.

Rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange shed 2.32% to 4,078 yuan a tonne, hot-rolled coil dropped 2.05%, wire rod tumbled 2.98% and stainless steel dipped 0.34%.
($1 = 6.8910 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Amy Lv and Dominique Patton in Beijing; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)