Chinese futures slipped toward the closing session after a rally in morning session on pre-holiday restocking demand.
The most-actively traded iron ore futures for September 2020 delivery on the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) dipped slightly by 0.41% day-on-day to RMB 607 per tonne on Friday.
Following the decline, the steel rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange retreated slightly by 0.39% to RMB 3,343 per tonne.
CISA: China’s steel demand to rebound from coronavirus downturn
China’s steel output is set to rebound after the coronavirus downturns, according to China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).
The association had recorded that most of the country’s steel steel-related enterprises had resumed operations with the return of 178 out of 191 as of April 9.
Besides, the Beijing policymakers had injected around RMB 6.7 trillion or $947 billion for infrastructure spending in 2020, according to data from Huatai Securities.
Among the spending, around 23% of the investment will be spend on new infrastructures across 31 provincial level regions in China.
Restocking of discounted ores before May holidays
Discounted medium grade ores remained popular among buyers such as the Mac Fines and Jimblerbar Fines, which were cheaper amid thin steel margins.
According to trade sources, there was also some end-users restocking activities for portside iron ore stock ahead of the of the long week Chinese holiday in early May.
However, most buyers were not interested in the procurement for late May cargoes, but instead preferred late April-early May loading cargoes and June loading cargoes.