China stainless steel mogul fights to avoid a second collapse
A debt crisis is threatening the future of one of the world’s top stainless steel producers, Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry.
Iron ore prices fell sharply on Friday as subdued buying interest from steel mills and a pick-up in port inventories undermined investor sentiment.
Benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China fell 5.73%, to $110.41 per tonne, the lowest since December 2022.
The most-traded September iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange ended daytime trading 4.82% lower at a near four-month low of 730.5 yuan ($105.96) a tonne.
The benchmark May iron ore price was 5.82% lower at $108.65 a tonne on the Singapore Exchange, as of 0708 GMT, the lowest since December 28, 2022.
“Mills’ buying interest (in spot iron ore cargoes) ahead of the upcoming (May 1-3) holiday is weaker than expected, weighing on spot prices and sending pressure to futures markets as well,” said Yu Chen, a Shanghai-based analyst at consultancy Mysteel.
Inventories at the 45 major Chinese ports surveyed increased by 1.23 million tonnes, or 1%, on the week to 130.35 million tonnes in the week, as of April 21, according to Mysteel.
“The drastic fall (in iron ore prices) on Friday resulted from the joint impact of several negative signs. The worse-than-expected 19.2% year-on-year fall in new housing starts in the past quarter suggested weak demand for raw materials,” said Pei Hao, a Shanghai-based analyst at international brokerage firm FIS.
“Also, supply will be sufficient in the near term, based on the latest quarterly results from the top three suppliers.”
Rio Tinto reported on Thursday a better than expected 15.4% jump in first-quarter iron ore shipments from Western Australia, a record for the quarter, as it ramped up production at its Gudai-Darri mine.
Vale SA reported on Tuesday a 5.8% year-on-year increase in first-quarter iron ore production, boosted by its key S11D project.
The company produced 66.77 million tonnes of iron ore during the first three months of 2023, it said in a securities filing. Compared with the previous quarter, its iron ore output fell 17.4%.
Yesterday, BHP reiterated its annual forecast of 278 million tonnes to 290 Mt for Western Australian iron ore output.
($1 = 6.8944 Chinese yuan)
(With files from Reuters and Bloomberg)
