STEEL NEWS

Chinese steel futures rise on hopes of recovery in demand

Chinese steel rebar and hot rolled steel futures rebounded on Thursday December 2 on expectations that demand for May's most traded supplies will rebound from a weak consumer season, Reuters reported.

The most active construction rebar futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 1.3% to 4,288 yuan ($ 679.53) a tonne by the close, rising for the fourth straight session.

Hot rolled coil futures, used in the manufacturing sector, also rose for a third straight session and ultimately surged 1.1% to RMB 4,703 a tonne.

“Expected demand (for May contracts) is improving and performing better than January contracts, we expect steel products to remain strong over the long term,” GF Futures said in a statement.

Apparent consumption of China's five major steel products, including rebar, hot rolled coils, cold rolled coils and others, rose 2.6% as of Thursday to 9.79 million tonnes, compared with a week earlier, according to consultancy Mysteel.

Shanghai stainless steel futures fell 1.3% to RMB 16,820 a tonne.

Raw materials for steelmaking at the Dalian Commodity Exchange declined.

Benchmark iron ore futures for January delivery fell 3.5% to RMB 601 a tonne, while spot Fe62% iron ore was $ 105.5 a tonne on Wednesday, according to consulting firm SteelHome.

Brazilian miners exported 28.99 million tonnes of iron ore in November, up from 29.15 million tonnes in the same month a year earlier, according to local government data.

Dalian coking coal and coke futures slipped towards the close, retreating from gains in the morning session. They fell 2.9% to 1,878 yuan per tonne and 1.7% to 2,710 yuan per tonne, respectively.