Iron ore futures opened low, before a late rally toward the afternoon trading session that pushed up rates higher.
The most-traded iron ore contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE), then rose by 2.58% day-on-day or up RMB 25.50 to RMB 1,014/mt on Monday.
The steel rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, however dropped by 1.99% or down RMB 101 day-on-day to RMB 4,985/mt.
Easing steel prices amid profit-takings
Chinese steel prices are expected to ease for the week of Apr 12-16, due to profit taking activities among trade participants.
According to Mysteel, some of the Chinese traders were selling off stocks to capitalize on record-high steel prices especially for steel products like rebar. Thus, Mysteel also expected further decline of rebar stocks among traders’ warehouses for the week.
Due to the selloff, the HRB400E 20mm rebar price went down by RMB 6/mt on-day to RMB 5,116/mt by Apr 9, while Tangshan billet prices had fallen by RMB 150 over two-days period to RMB 4,890/mt as of Apr 12.
Little impact from Cyclone Seroja
Cyclone Seroja moved south inland toward Perth, bypassing Pilbara coast and posing little threat to the iron ore supply chain.
According to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, the tropical cyclone hit the coast south of Kalbarri in early Monday morning, bringing strong winds and heavy rainfall in the area.
The cyclone path is expected to move inland toward parts of the Greater Perth, Goldfields-Midlands, Great Southern, and Midwest-Gascoyne regions. Hence, the Australian authority had issued flood watch and severe weather warnings to these areas.