Chinese steel futures fall on subdued economic data
16 August, 2021
Chinese steel futures declined on Monday (Aug 16), with rebar leading the declines after falling to a more than 10-day low, as slower-than-expected growth in industrial output and cooling construction activities in the country weighed on prices.
China's industrial production rose 6.4 per cent in July from the same month a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed, failing market expectation of 7.8 per cent growth and slowed from a jump of 8.3 per cent in June.
The country's property investment also grew at a slower pace in January-July from the first half of the year, while new construction starts dipped 0.9 per cent in the first seven months of 2021 from the same slot a year earlier, according to official data.
The most-active steel rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, for January 2022 delivery, dropped as much as 2.8 per cent to 5,290 yuan (US$816.67) per tonne, the lowest since Aug 4. The contract faltered 1.8 per cent to 5,344 yuan as of 0330 GMT.
Hot-rolled coils, used in the manufacturing sector, edged down 0.4 per cent to 5,725 yuan a tonne.
Stainless steel futures on the Shanghai bourse slipped 0.8 per cent to 18,175 yuan per tonne.
China's crude steel output had declined for two straight months and stood at 86.79 million tonnes in July as Beijing reinforced production controls, data from the statistics bureau showed.
Prices for steelmaking ingredients on the Dalian Commodity Exchange gained in morning trade.
Benchmark iron ore futures rose 1.8 per cent to 847 yuan per tonne.
Coking coal futures increased 1.0 per cent to 2,221 yuan a tonne.
Coke futures on the Dalian exchange were up 1.3 per cent to 2,922 yuan per tonne.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com