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 price rose on Monday after the latest China stimulus.
China’s central bank ramped up liquidity support to the banking system by conducting medium-term lending facility (MLF) operations worth 789 billion yuan.
With 500 billion yuan worth of MLF loans maturing, the bank is injecting fresh liquidity into the banking system.
According to Fastmarkets, benchmark 62% Fe fines imported into Northern China rose 1.84% on Monday, to $120.20 per ton.
The most-traded January iron ore on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) ended daytime trading 2.86% higher at 862 yuan ($117.93) a metric ton, the highest since Sept. 25.
The benchmark November iron ore contract on the Singapore Exchange was 2.46% higher at $117.1 a ton, as of 0701 GMT, the highest since Oct. 3.
Low inventories also lifted sentiment in the iron ore market, as stocks slid for five consecutive weeks to 105.2 million tons as of Oct. 13, the lowest since June 2020, data from consultancy Steelhome showed.
“Prices remained firm as constrained supply for steel scrap resulted in robust consumption for iron ore,” analysts at Huatai Futures said in a note.
The deepening crisis in China’s property sector, however, is likely to keep demand depressed despite further stimulus, ANZ bank analysts warned in a note.
($1 = 7.3096 Chinese yuan)
(With files from Reuters)
