China's steel and iron ore futures prices have rebounded since the start of the year following a pickup in demand to coincide with rising domestic industrial production and infrastructure spending.
The most traded iron ore contract for May delivery jumped 4.25 percent to 687 yuan ($99) per ton yesterday, the biggest gain among commodities. Since the start of the year, the price has jumped 28.7 percent.
Rebar futures rose 3.84 percent to 3,594 yuan per ton, up 26 percent from the year's first trading day.
Steel consumption has rebounded to "further support the futures price increase," Chen Kexin, analyst at Lange Steel Information Center, a domestic steel consulting company.
He said China's crude steel consumption over the past two months jumped 11.6 percent from a year ago to 117.2 million tons.
"Investors are optimistic about the steel industry amid the nation's policies to increase steel use," Chen added.
China has called for construction expansion since the start of the year. Infrastructure spending on public facilities, water conservation projects and transport surged 27.3 percent over the first two months from the same period a year ago, said the National Bureau of Statistics yesterday.
Source: Shanghai Daily