Iron ore's benchmark May contract on the Singapore Exchange, also dropped by up to 1.5% to hit $102.35 a tonne, its lowest since early December. Some mills in top steel producer China now hurting from lacklustre steel demand and a slump in prices "have started to actively limit production", Sinosteel Futures analysts said in a note. According to industry consultancy and data provider Mysteel, some 52 of 126 blast furnaces in Tangshan, China's top steelmaking city, have gone into maintenance. Spot 62%-grade iron ore for delivery to China dropped to $110 a tonne on Monday, the lowest since early December and down nearly 9% this week, according to SteelHome consultancy.
While China's infrastructure investment rose 8.8% year-on-year in the first quarter, property investment fell 5.8%. China's infrastructure sector may continue to benefit this year from the projects initiated at the end of 2022, although growth may weaken in 2024 if no large-scale projects begin this year, the World Steel Association said in a quarterly report last week. The country's manufacturing sector is expected to show only a moderate recovery in 2023-2024, with slowing exports, the Brussels-based group said. Rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 1.2%, hot-rolled coil shed 1.1%, while wire rod climbed 2.7% and stainless steel gained 0.4%.
Coking coal and coke on the Dalian exchange declined 0.6% and 1.7%, respectively.
(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; editing by Eileen
Soreng)
