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China iron ore futures retreat from peak on price control worries

Benchmark iron ore futures in China fell on Wednesday after hitting historical highs in the previous session on expectations of price controls and steel output curbs.

The China Iron and Steel Association said on Tuesday that fast-rising iron ore prices are “unreasonable”, the industry should enhance exploitation of resources both at home and abroad, and also improve rules for the futures market.

Meanwhile, the country’s environment ministry pledged it would dispatch specific panels to the ferrous sector and strengthen supervision and support, an official said in a briefing on Wednesday, without mentioning which mills or what places they would visit.

The most traded iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, for September delivery, ended down 1% at 1,139 yuan ($175.59) a tonne.

Spot prices of iron ore with 62% iron content for delivery to China rose by $4 to $194.5 a tonne on Tuesday from the previous trading day, according to SteelHome consultancy. SH-CCN-IRNOR62

“Iron ore prices rose on restocking demand before the Labour Day holiday period … also increased on elevated steel margins in China,” analysts with Commonwealth Bank commodities wrote in a note.

Other steelmaking ingredients declined.

Dalian coking coal dropped 1.6% to 1,757 yuan a tonne and coke closed 0.1% lower at 2,683 yuan per tonne.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Construction rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange , for October delivery, slipped 0.7% to 5,358 yuan a tonne.

* Hot rolled coils fell 1.0% to 5,691 yuan a tonne.

* Shanghai stainless steel futures, for June delivery, rose 2.2% to 14,660 yuan per tonne.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Min Zhang, Muyu Xu and Shivani Singh in Beijing, additional reporting by Sonali Paul in Melbourne; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)

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