BEIJING,
May 13 (Reuters) - Chinese steel rebar and hot-rolled coil futures traded in a
tight range on Friday but looked set to post weekly losses as COVID-19-related
restrictions and heavy rains dented downstream demand.
China
has been trying to strengthen its economy hit by the COVID outbreak, rolling
out measures to help small firms and stabilise jobs and relaxing controls in
the property market.
However,
its strict lockdowns are expected to "continue to weigh on industrial
activity, resulting in weaker demand for metals," ANZ Research said in a
note.
Furthermore,
heavy rains in southwest and southern China weighed on short-term construction
material demand, while falling raw material prices will no longer underpin
steel prices, said Haitong Futures.
The
most-active steel rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for October
delivery dipped 0.7% to 4,622 yuan ($679.55) a tonne, as of 0256 GMT. The
contract was down 2.4% so far this week.
Hot-rolled
coils, used in the manufacturing sector, edged 0.5% lower to 4,729 yuan a
tonne, shedding 2.1% so far in the week.
Stainless
steel, for June delivery, on the Shanghai bourse fell 1% to 18,810 yuan per
tonne.
Benchmark
iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange , for September delivery,
fell 0.6% to 810 yuan a tonne, tracking spot 62% iron ore
<SH-CCN-IRNOR62> which dropped $4 to $125.5 on Thursday.
Dalian
coking coal prices declined 2.2% to 2,555 yuan per tonne and coke futures were
down 1.6% at 3,307 yuan a tonne.
Capacity
utilisation rates at 247 steel mills improved slightly to 82.6%, as of Friday,
up 0.7% from a week earlier, data from Mysteel consultancy showed, as plants
gradually restored production. ($1 = 6.8016 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Min
Zhang in Beijing and Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)