Dalian coking coal futures slump as supply crunch eases
By Min Zhang and Enrico Dela Cruz
BEIJING/MANILA, Nov 16 (Reuters) - China's coking coal futures dived more than 5% at market open on Tuesday, extending losses into a third straight session amid increasing coal supply and tepid demand at coking plants.
The country's coal production in October jumped 4% on an annual basis to 360 million tonnes and is still rising, securing stable supply of the material for this winter-spring period, official from the National Development and Reform Commission told a presser on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, customs clearance for imported coking coal through the Ganqimaodu customs in Inner Mongolia had been increasing, according to a GF Futures note.
The most actively traded coking coal futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for January delivery, plunged as much as 7.5% to 1,906 yuan ($299.32) per tonne, the lowest since July 20. They were down 5.3%, as of 0320 GMT.
Coke prices on the Dalian bourse slipped 2.4% to 2,738 yuan a tonne.
"Steel mills in many places have stepped up to lower coke purchasing prices," analysts with SinoSteel Futures wrote in a note, adding both supply and demand for coke have dropped significantly.
Benchmark iron ore futures were traded within tight range. They inched up 0.1% to 547 yuan a tonne. Spot 62% iron ore for delivery to China was flat at $90 a tonne on Monday, according to SteelHome consultancy. <SH-CCN-IRNOR62>
Steel prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange bounced back from losses in the previous session.
Construction-used rebar rose 1.6% to 4,258 yuan a tonne. Hot-rolled coils edged 0.5% higher to 4,491 yuan per tonne.
Shanghai stainless steel futures jumped 1.8% to 17,540 yuan a tonne.
($1 = 6.3678 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Min Zhang in Beijign and Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
