"Also, supply will be sufficient in the near term based on the latest quarterly results from the three top suppliers," he added. The other steel-making ingredients, including coking coal and coke , also dropped 2.73% and 1.82%, respectively. Steel futures were broadly on the downtrends. Rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slid by 1.46% to a near five-month low at 3,842 yuan a tonne, hot-rolled coil declined 1.64%, wire rod eased 0.27% and stainless steel dipped 0.55%. ($1 = 6.8859 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Amy Lv and Dominique Patton in Beijing; Editing by Sohini Goswami)
BEIJING, April 21 (Reuters) - Dalian and Singapore iron
ore futures fell for a third straight day to near four-month
lows on Friday, as subdued buying interest from steel mills and
a pick-up in port inventories undermined investor sentiment.
The most-traded September iron ore on the Dalian Commodity
Exchange (DCE) traded 4.04% down at a near four-month
low at 736.5 yuan ($106.96) a tonne, as of 0215 GMT.
On the Singapore Exchange, the benchmark May iron ore was 4.52% lower at $110.15 a tonne, as of 0239 GMT, the
lowest since Dec. 28, 2022.
"Mills' buying interest (in spot iron ore cargoes) ahead of
the upcoming (May 1-3) holiday is weaker than expected, weighing
on spot prices and sending pressure to futures markets as well,"
said Yu Chen, a Shanghai-based analyst at consultancy Mysteel.
Iron ore inventories at the 45 major surveyed Chinese ports
increased by 1.23 million tonnes, or 1%, on the week to 130.35
million tonnes in the week as of April 21, Mysteel data showed.
"The drastic fall (in iron ore prices) on Friday resulted
from the joint impact of several negative signs. The
worse-than-expected 19.2% year-on-year fall in new housing
starts in the past quarter suggested weak demand for raw
materials," said Pei Hao, a Shanghai-based analyst at the
international brokerage firm FIS.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.