Chinese iron ore futures rose on Tuesday, boosted by hopes for demand after the world's second largest economy reported unexpected production increases in March.
The National Bureau of Statistics said China's official purchasing managers 'index (PMI) jumped to 52 this month from a record low in February, beating analysts' expectations of 45.0.
Meanwhile, iron ore stocks in Chinese ports fell for the second straight week and as of March 27 fell to 121.25 million tons, the lowest level in nearly eight months.
This helped the top-selling May iron ore futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rise 1.5% to 0.9% to 650.5 yuan ($ 91.77) a tonne.
However, the statistical office said it was still unclear if the domestic economy had picked up after the coronavirus hit.
“The resumption of production in companies has not yet returned to the pre-coronavirus level,” the statistical office said along with the data, adding that the globally spreading epidemic has posed new challenges for the country's economy.
Steel rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for May delivery fell 4% in the first quarter of 2020. It closed down 0.15% on Tuesday at 3,406 yuan a tonne.
Hot rolled coil futures also fell 0.1% at 3,252 yuan a tonne. In the first three months of this year, it fell by 8.9%.
Iron ore futures in China climb after recovery in activity
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Azovpromstal® 2 April 2020 г. 10:59 |
