BEIJING- Chinese steel futures declined on Monday, 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 percent in July from the same month a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed, failing market expectation of 7.8 percent growth and slowed from a jump of 8.3 percent 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 percent 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 percent to 5,290 yuan ($816.67) per ton, the lowest since August 4. The contract faltered 1.8 percent to 5,344 yuan as of 0330 GMT.
Hot-rolled coils, used in the manufacturing sector, edged down 0.4 percent to 5,725 yuan a ton.
Stainless steel futures on the Shanghai bourse slipped 0.8 percent to 18,175 yuan per ton.
China’s crude steel output had declined for two straight months and stood at 86.79 million tons 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 percent to 847 yuan per ton.
Coking coal futures increased 1.0 percent to 2,221 yuan a ton.
Coke futures on the Dalian exchange were up 1.3 percent to 2,922 yuan per ton.
