From the ANZ:
Iron ore markets rebounded, up 1.4% to USD111.9. China’s HSBC PMI fell to 49.2 yesterday, contradicting the official PMI May figure of 50.8 released at the weekend. But optimism prevailed, with Oct13 SHFE rebar futures ending the session 0.8% higher to RMB3,459/t, supporting front-month iron ore swap (IOS) and physical iron ore prices. Jun13 IOS rallied 5.9% to USD117.25/t, and Jul13 was up 4.7% to USD114.17/t. Coking coal prices fell USD1.19 to USD138.6/t overnight, as declining Chinese domestic prices continues to weigh on the seaborne market. Newcastle thermal coal prices also declined to USD85.8/t, as volumes remained light and sentiment bearish. Reports suggest China’s proposed ban on low-CV, high sulphur coal could be relaxed to cover coal with a maximum sulphur content of 2% and CV of at least NAR 4,000kcal/kg, rather than 1% sulphur and minimum CV of NAR 4,500kcal/kg. On timing, reports suggest any new restrictions are not expected to come into force before existing contracts expire.
ANZ Commodity Daily 837 040613.pdf by Tamara Rice
