BEIJING- China’s benchmark iron ore futures dropped for the fourth straight session on Thursday, shedding more than 5 percent and put a dent on steel prices as investors were still concerned about government interventions on the market.
China’s state planner and the market regulator held a meeting with domestic and foreign iron ore traders earlier in the day, the second meeting with trading firms this week that aimed to look into inventories and recent trading at the companies and warned against irregularities.
“Previous increase in iron ore prices was more related to expectation and had nothing much to do with the fundamentals,” analysts with GF Futures wrote in a note, adding that the steelmaking ingredient is pressured by policies.
The most actively traded iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for May delivery, dived as much as 5.2 percent to 675 yuan ($106.62) per ton.
Steel products on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were also dented by falling raw material pries.
Construction used steel rebar declined 1 percent to 4,734 yuan a ton, and hot rolled coils used in the manufacturing sector dipped 0.8 percent to 4,859 yuan per ton.
Stainless steel futures on the Shanghai bourse, for March delivery, slipped 0.4 percent to 19,045 yuan a ton.
Dalian coking coal futures rose 1 percent to 2,435 yuan per ton. Coke prices jumped 1.3 percent to 3,205 yuan a ton. — Reuters
