China's Dalian iron ore futures rose for a third session on Wednesday, boosted by falling shipments from big miners and hopes of further economic stimulus by the country, after it scrapped restrictions on two major inbound investment schemes. The most actively trade iron ore futures contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for January 2020 delivery, jumped as much as 2.2% at 665 yuan a tonne. It closed up 1.5% at 661 yuan.
Spot cargoes prices of benchmark iron ore with 62% iron content for delivery to China at $93 per tonne on Tuesday, rising again from $92 on Monday. Arrivals of the steelmaking raw material in China's 26 ports totalled 17.8 million tonnes on the week of Sept.2-8, down by 3.2 million tonnes week-on-week, data compiled by Mysteel consultancy showed. Shipment from Australia and Brazil dropped by 2.7 million tonnes last week to 21 million tonnes, according to Mysteel."The obvious falling shipments from big miners and recent backwardation could help shore up the iron ore prices," Huatai Futures wrote in a note. Shanghai steel futures, however, edged down on weak demand concerns, snapping a two-day gaining streak in morning trade. The most-active construction steel rebar contract, for January 2020 delivery, dipped 0.1% to 3,481 yuan a tonne.
Futures for hot-rolled coil, used in cars and home appliances, also for January delivery, drifted down 0.4% to 3,515 yuan a tonne. Auto sales in the world's biggest vehicle market fell for a 14th consecutive month in August by 6.9% from a year earlier and new energy vehicles sales also dropped by 15.8%, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said on Wednesday.
China released tariffs waiver list for products from the United States and exempted 16 types of goods, including whey and fish meal, some lubricants and anti-cancer drugs. Australian iron ore miners BHP Group, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group gained after prices jumped fuelled by China's economic stimulus.
China's foreign exchange regulator said on Tuesday that it had decided to scrap quota restrictions on two major inbound investment schemes, as a weakening yuan and rising outflows prompt Beijing to seek to attract more foreign capital. Other steelmaking ingredients both climbed 0.9%, with Dalian coking coal for January delivery settled at 1,350 yuan a tonne and coke for January 2020 at 1,975 yuan, respectively.