On Monday, August 7, coke prices (main contract J1801) at Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) opened the day at RMB 2,005/mt and closed at RMB 2,047.5/mt, which was up 2.30 percent compared to the settlement price of RMB 2,001.5/mt on the previous trading day, August 4. Also at DCE, iron ore futures prices (main contract I1801) opened at RMB 549/mt and closed at RMB 564/mt, up 3.01 percent compared to the previous trading day’s settlement price of RMB 547.5/mt.
Meanwhile, on August 7, rebar futures prices (main contract RB1710) at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) opened at RMB 3,880/mt and closed at RMB 4,079/mt, which was up 6.42 percent from the settlement price of RMB 3,833/mt on August 4. Hot rolled coil (HRC) futures prices (main contract HC1710) at SHFE opened the day at RMB 3,893/mt and closed at RMB 4,030/mt, rising by 4.49 percent compared to the previous trading day’s settlement price of RMB 3,857/mt.
Environmental authorities in China’s Hebei Province lately announced that during the winter season (November 2017-March 2018) blast furnaces in Tangshan, Shijiazhuang and Handan will cut their production by 50 percent, while output of coking plants will be reduced by 30 percent. The news has created positive expectations among market participants for the steel price trend.
One week ago, the People’s Daily, the organ of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article calling on Chinese steelmakers not to be afraid of present difficulties, reminding them that greater rewards lie ahead if capacity elimination is carried out successfully.