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Chinese stainless steel futures plunged 12% to hit their trading limit on Thursday, after Shanghai Futures Exchange halted some nickel trading, fuelling expectations of a drop in the raw material’s prices.
The Shanghai bourse said it would suspend trading of some nickel contracts for one day on March 9 to tame price volatility after it hit the upper trading limit for three consecutive days.
“Recent surge in nickel prices was unconventional and derailed from the fundamentals,” said a Shanghai-based analyst, who declined to be named.
“Now that London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange both halted nickel trading, investors would have expectation that price for the ingredient is not going any higher,” the analyst added.
Stainless steel futures for April delivery hit a lower trading limit of 12%, falling to 19,700 yuan ($3,116.84) a tonne since Wednesday’s night session and stalled in Thursday morning trade.
Analysts with GF Futures also noted that stainless steel will likely track nickel prices to come back within a reasonable range, but the market needs to be cautious about uncertainties amid Ukraine-Russia crisis.
Construction used steel rebar on the Shanghai exchange ended down 1% at 4,896 yuan a tonne. Hot rolled coils , used in cars and home appliances, slipped 1.1% to 5,107 yuan per tonne.
Steelmaking raw materials on the Dalian Commodity Exchange all fell. Benchmark iron ore futures declined 3.2% to 808 yuan a tonne at close. They had fallen as much as 8.8% earlier during the session.
Coking coal prices dropped 0.8% to 3,080 yuan per tonne and coke futures faded 1.3% to 3,725 yuan a tonne.
Source: Reuters