STEEL NEWS

China Iron Ore Futures Rise Amid Demand Optimism

According to Reuters, Chinese iron ore futures rose to a weekly high on March 5 amid expectations of increased demand for raw materials for steel production following the lunar New Year holidays.

Iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange of China closed the day with a 4.2% increase to 1,004.50 yuan ($ 155.16) a tonne after hitting a weekly high of 1,017 yuan. It is up 1.4% this week after three straight falls in a week.

The spot iron ore price jumped to $ 157 a ton on Thursday from $ 150 a ton a day earlier, according to consulting firm SteelHome.

China's weekly steel inventory data, released on March 4 for a “screening” of institutional clients, showed that inventory growth is well ahead of steelmaker inventories, said Attila Widnell, managing director of Navigate Commodities in Singapore.

“Iron ore futures traders listed in Dalian and Singapore found this data to be optimistic for underlying physical demand,” he said.

"This suggests that steel supply chains hit by COVID-19 are back on track and local blast furnaces may soon start increasing capacity utilization to meet stimulated steel demand in 2021."

Iron ore fell 0.4% in volatile trading on the Singapore Bourse by 07:15 GMT as concerns arose over China's ongoing COVID-19 control measures that could delay builders' return from vacation.

Coking coal rose in price by 2.5%, and coke - by 1.7%.

Rebar shares on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1.6%, hot rolled coil rose 2% and stainless steel rose 0.2%.