Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) has issued a notice stating that, effective from the trading session on September 9, the daily opening volume for non-futures company members or clients shall not exceed 5,000 lots across all iron ore futures contracts. Effective from settlement on September 9, the price limit for iron ore futures contracts will be adjusted from nine percent to six percent, and the trading margin requirement will be lowered from 11 percent to eight percent.
DCE's move aims to curb speculative trading and guide prices back to rationality, stabilize the market, and serve the real economy.
Iron ore prices have surged above $100/mt for the first time in the past seven weeks amid the expectations of stock-building in China ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival (September 25-27) and the National Day holiday (October 1-7) and amid relatively high seaborne freight rates. Meanwhile, traders closing out their earlier bullish coking coal bets also helped underpin iron ore prices.
