China: Futures market upbeat on likely easing of curbs

Iron ore and steel futures in China continued the uptrend today, gaining by 5.7% and 2% respectively. The futures market remained upbeat on news that the Tangshan government could lower output curtailment ratio for some mills that had finished ultra-low emission upgrades. Following are the closing prices of the most-traded iron ore and steel futures contracts on 1 June’21:

• DCE iron ore futures Sep’21 contract closed at RMB 1,169.5/t ($183).
• SGX iron ore futures July’21 contract closed at $204.5/t.
• SHFE rebar futures Oct’21 contract closed at RMB 5,128/t ($806).
• SHFE HRC futures Oct’21 contract closed at RMB 5,437/t ($852).