Verdict:
• Short-run Neutral.
Macro:
• The Research Institute Beike, which was the subsidiary of the biggest China house agency, indicated that Tier I house sales down 3% on the year during Chinese New Year. Tier II sales up 98% on the year. Tier III house sales up 65% on the year.
Iron Ore Key Indicators:
• Platts62 $130.00, +0.50, MTD $128.77. Iron ore rebounded during last few days of Chinese New Year expecting more restocking activities happen. However, the traders were cautious with thin liquidity on ports and seaborne. Moreover, the negative steel mills margin limited the room of restock in short-run.
• The 45 China ports imported 136.76 million tons of iron ore, up 5.28 million tons from the last day before Chinese New Year.
SGX Iron Ore 62% Futures& Options Open Interest (Feb 16th)
• Futures 109,787,400 tons(Increase 509,900 tons)
• Options 95,345,800 tons(Increase 333,300 tons)
Steel Key Indicators:
• China 87 independent EAFs average operation rate at 6.67%, down 5.71% on the week. China 247 blast furnace steel mills operation rate at 76.37%, down 0.3% on the week, down 3.17% on the year.
Coal Indicators:
• China Hebei and Tianjin steel mills started to decrease coke price by 100 – 110 yuan/ton, effective from February 19th.
