China steel futures extend gains as stimulus spurs demand hopes

[BEIJING] Steel futures in China rose in early trade on Monday, with construction rebar extending gains into the fourth consecutive session, as favourable monetary policies fuelled demand hopes.

China's new loans in March rose sharply to 2.85 trillion yuan (S$573.03 billion), beating the forecast of 1.8 trillion yuan, as the central bank pumped in more liquidity and cut funding costs to support the coronavirus-hit economy.

Its household loans also rebounded to 989.1 billion yuan last month from a net decline in February.

The most-actively traded steel rebar futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, for October delivery, rose as much as 1.7 per cent to 3,387 yuan per tonne. It was up 1.2 per cent at 3,371 yuan a tonne, as of 0215 GMT.

Hot-rolled coil, used in the manufacturing sector such as cars and home appliances, gained 0.8 per cent at 3,196 yuan a tonne.

Mills in China also picked up production on resuming demand from downstream sectors. Utilisation rates at blast furnaces in 247 steel firms tracked by Mysteel consultancy rose to 78.81 per cent, as of April 10.

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The June contract of stainless steel futures rose 1.6 per cent to 12,580 yuan a tonne.

FUNDAMENTALS

- Benchmark iron ore futures on the Dalian edged up 0.1 per cent to 597 yuan per tonne.

- Dalian coking coal climbed 0.4 per cent to 1,131 yuan a tonne and Dalian coke was up 0.9 per cent to 1,727 yuan per tonne.

- Spot prices of iron ore with 62 per cent iron content for delivery to China rose by US$0.30 to US$84.30 a tonne on Friday.

- More than 1.7 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 109,519 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

- French companies in the automotive, aerospace and steel sectors are ready to return to work and assure "impeccable, sanitary conditions", the country's metals lobby said on Sunday, and called on the government to spell out France's plans.

- The European Commission has imposed provisional anti-dumping duties on some stainless steel products from China, Indonesia and Taiwan, according to the official EU journal, nearly eight months after launching a probe into low-price imports.

REUTERS