BEIJING- Chinese steel rebar and hot rolled coils futures were trading in a tight range but both were near high levels, as peak seasonal demand and curtailed output at mills kept prices elevated.
Stockpiles of major steel products, including construction materials and coils used in the manufacturing sector, fell 2.8 percent to 10.71 million tons last week from the week earlier, data from Mysteel consultancy showed.
Meanwhile, weekly output of the metal stood at 10.15 million tons as of Sept. 9, according to Mysteel, down 7 percent from same period a year earlier.
“Affected by the coronavirus situation and floods in July and August, (construction) demand is likely to pick up during peak season,” analysts with CITIC Futures wrote in a note.
The most-active rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, for January delivery, inched up 0.4 percent to 5,696 yuan ($883.29) per ton as of 0215 GMT.
