keywords : coal price
Chinese coking coal futures closed slightly higher on Tuesday, after falling as much as 3% in morning session, hurt by expectations of cooling demand from mills and coking plants, while supply-side shortages were expected to recover.
China’s crude steel output fell for a second straight month in July, down 7.6% from a month earlier to 86.79 million tonnes, as the country aims to reduce carbon emissions by reducing production of the metal.
Intensifying output controls at coking plants in northwest and central China could also hurt consumption for coking coal, analysts at GF Futures wrote in a note.
Meanwhile, as Beijing has recently stepped up efforts to boost coal supply and stabilise commodity prices, supply for coking coal blending could be improved, though overall imports for the ingredient remains tight, GF Futures said.
The most traded coking coal futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for January delivery, was down as much as 3.0% to 2,157 yuan ($332.93) per tonne. They recovered and ended up 0.7% at 2,239 yuan a tonne.
Coke futures on the Dalian bourse rose 0.7% to 2,947 yuan a tonne.
Benchmark iron ore futures fell 1.6.% to 834 yuan at close, though spot 62% iron ore was unchanged at $162 a tonne on Monday, according to SteelHome consultancy.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Steel rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 0.8% to 5,345 yuan a tonne.
* Hot rolled coils, used in cars and home appliances, dipped 0.1% to 5,670 yuan a tonne.
* Stainless steel futures on the Shanghai exchange SHSScv1 increased 0.7% to 18,380 yuan per tonne.
* China’s state planner said it would resolutely crack down projects with high energy-consuming and high emissions, but in an orderly manner.