Chinese steel futures drop for 3rd day on trade war, demand concerns

Chinese steel futures fell for a third straight session on Monday to their lowest in more than eight months, as investors remained worried over the trade spat between the United States and China and the continued weakness in steel demand.

The most active rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell as much as 3.7 percent to a session low of 3,333 yuan($527.92) a tonne, the lowest since July 7, 2017. It was down 2.6 percent at 3,371 yuan a tonne at 0258 GMT.

“The U.S. and China trade spat has hit hard on commodities. The market sentiment remains bearish and some steel mills have cut prices, weighing prices. The market will be subject to the changes in inventories,” said Bai Jing, an analyst with Galaxy Futures in Beijing.

The deepening rift has sent a chill through financial markets and the corporate world as investors predicted dire consequences for the global economy should trade barriers start going up.

Rebar inventories held by traders in big Chinese cities rose to 9.79 million tonnes by March 16, the highest since April 2013, data from industry consultancy Steelhome showed.

Iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange had dropped by 2 percent to 438.5 yuan a tonne by 0258 GMT.

Coke dropped 1.6 percent to 1,860 yuan a tonne and coking coal edged up 0.8 percent.

Iron ore for delivery to China’sQingdao port dropped $2.6 a tonne to $64.58/tonne last Friday, according to Metal Bulletin.

Source: Reuters