Wednesday, November 17,
Shanghai steel rebar futures fell on Wednesday on growing worries China would act soon to tame rising inflation, even as tighter supplies kept prices of iron ore firm.
Beijing’s next rate hike may happen this Friday, according to the official China Securities Journal.
“The fear is that if you’re in a tightening environment, you don’t have lending, then you don’t get cash into the construction sector, so you see demand dropping off,” said Graeme Train, commodity analyst at Macquarie Securities.
Offers for Indian ore with 63.5 percent iron content remained at $165-$167/ tonne, cost and freight in China, according to Chinese industry consultant.
“Supply in some Indian regions is tightening and recent rainstorms in Vizag have also suspended loading of shipments,” said an iron ore trader in Shanghai.
The weather disruption in the southeastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh coincides with a ban on iron ore exports from neighboring Karnataka state which has been in place since late July as part of a government crackdown on illegal mining.
Prices of iron ore swaps extended gains on Tuesday, with the Singapore Exchange-cleared December contract up by $1.70 to $159.45 a tonne and the January contract rising by $2 to $158.50 a tonne.
“Everything’s sentiment-driven at the moment, fundamentals are of out the window for a while as people panic a little bit,” said an analyst.
Source Reuters
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