[Ferro-Alloys.com]Iron ore futures in Asia tumbled as rising port inventories in China, the biggest buyer, hurt prices that have been propelled higher by an improved economic outlook and heightened investor speculation.

 

Most-active SGX AsiaClear futures lost as much as 6.9 per cent to $US57.83 a tonne and traded at $US57.92 at 2.09pm in Singapore, while the contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange sank as much as 6.7 per cent. In China, steel rebar, a benchmark product, and coking coal, used in furnaces, also retreated.

 

Iron ore's gains in the opening months of 2016 wrong-footed many forecasters after China added stimulus, presiding over an unexpected rebound in the property sector and helping to trigger the surge in speculative trading. Port inventories rose 1.2 per cent to 98.5 million tons last week, the highest in more than a year, according to Shanghai Steelhome Information Technology Holdings last topped the 100-million-tonne mark in March 2015.

 

The month of "May marks the period where steel demand typically starts to slow after a busy season", Xia Junyan, an analyst at Everbright Futures, wrote in a note on Tuesday. "Port stockpiles of iron ore have remained near 100 million tons, indicating that supply is relatively abundant."

 

Ore with 62 per cent content delivered to Qingdao surged 5.3 per cent to $US66.24 a dry tonne on Friday, according to Metal Bulletin. The commodity has soared 52 per cent this year, topping $US70 last month for the first time since January 2015. Losses in futures contracts in Asia typically presage a drop in the Metal Bulletin price, which is set daily.

 

A manufacturing gauge for China's steel industry at the weekend signalled the first expansion in two years, adding to signs demand is rebounding. The steel purchasing manager's index rose to 57.3 in April from 49.7 a month earlier, according to official data on Sunday. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.

 

Steel production in China, which accounts for about half global supply, gained to a record in March, as mills ramped up supply and margins expanded. Over 60 blast furnaces nationwide were brought back into production during the first quarter, according to China Metallurgical News, which is affiliated with the China Iron & Steel Association.

 

Speculators who traded $US261 billion in Chinese commodities in a single day last month are retreating after regulators stepped up control and oversight of markets, boosting trading margins and fees and cutting down hours for some contracts. The value of futures traded across China's three biggest commodity exchanges has shrunk more than 40 per cent since investors spent 1.7 trillion yuan on April 21 on everything from rebar to coal.

 

Article from Internet for Reference