in Commodity News,Dry Bulk Market 09/07/2022
Singapore iron ore futures fell on Friday and were set for weekly losses, with renewed optimism about economic stimulus in China quickly fading away and market focus shifting back to COVID-19 restrictions in the world’s top steel producer.
Iron ore’s front-month August contract on the Singapore Exchange was down 1% at $112.45 a tonne, as of 0714 GMT, set to post its fourth weekly loss in five weeks.
On China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange, the most-traded September contract for the steelmaking ingredient ended daytime trade 0.7% higher at 755.50 yuan a tonne, off the day’s high of 782 yuan.
In the spot market, iron ore prices were also set for weekly declines, with the benchmark 62%-grade material bound for China having been assessed by SteelHome consultancy at $114 a tonne on Thursday, down 3% from last week.
China’s Ministry of Finance was considering allowing local governments to sell 1.5 trillion yuan ($220 billion) of special bonds in the second half of this year to boost infrastructure funding aimed at supporting the struggling domestic economy, Bloomberg News reported.
Sources had told Reuters, in an exclusive July 5 report, that China would issue 2023 advance quota for local government special bonds later this year, with the new quota likely bigger than 1.46 trillion yuan for 2022.
China has begun to recover from the fallout of recent lockdowns, but Premier Li Keqiang was quoted by state media as saying on Thursday that more efforts were needed as headwinds to growth persist.
“It’s unlikely that a recovery in property sales and property construction will be meaningful so long as lockdowns and restrictions remain a real risk,” said Commonwealth Bank of Australia commodity analyst Vivek Dhar.
Construction steel rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange SRBcv1 slipped 0.8%, while hot-rolled coil SHHCcv1 shed 0.4%. Stainless steel SHSScv1 climbed 2.1%. Dalian coking coal DJMcv1 slumped 3.6%, while coke DCJcv1 dropped 2.4%. Source: Reuters (Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila and Sonali Paul in Melbourne; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel and Rashmi Aich)