By Enrico Dela Cruz
April 14 (Reuters) - Iron ore futures wobbled on Friday
while being on track for their second consecutive weekly fall
due to mounting concerns about the steelmaking ingredient's
demand in top steel producer China.
China's plan to cap domestic steelmakers' output at 2022
levels added to such concerns, dragging down prices already
pressured by lacklustre domestic steel demand at a time when
construction activity is picking up.
Growing recession risks outside China have also clouded
prospects for its steel exports.
The most-traded September iron ore on China's Dalian
Commodity Exchange ended morning trade 0.4% lower at
772 yuan ($112.91) a tonne, after a 2.3% slump on Thursday. It
was on course for a weekly fall of more than 2%.
On the Singapore Exchange, benchmark May iron ore was up 0.1% at $116.55 a tonne, as of 0501 GMT, swinging between
losses and gains during the morning session. For the week so
far, it is down 0.8%.
"Iron ore extended its losses as China plans to cap steel
production for 2023. This is in response to slower demand
recovery and to curb emissions," ANZ commodity strategists said
in a note.
China though has not officially issued any statement about
steel output curbs this year, but Bloomberg reported on Thursday
the plan was expected to be released by the end of this month.
On the supply side, meanwhile, a category 5 storm that
smashed into Australia's northwest coast largely spared
populated regions including the world's largest iron ore export
hub at Port Hedland.
Other steelmaking inputs on the Dalian exchange were firmer,
with coking coal and coke up 0.3% and 1%,
respectively.
On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, rebar rose 0.9%,
hot-rolled coil climbed 1.1%, and stainless steel gained 0.6%, while wire rod slipped 0.3%.
Rebar spot and futures prices in China hit the lowest since
December earlier this week amid weak demand, analysts said.
(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; editing by Uttaresh
Venkateshwaran)
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