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* Chinese coke benchmark sees longest rally in nine months
* Dalian iron ore rises, but caps gains in volatile week
* China 2020 stainless steel output forecast to rise 2.1% (Updates prices, adds chart)
MANILA, Nov 6 (Reuters) – Chinese coke futures rose for a sixth session on Friday, their longest rally in nine months, with the benchmark contract marking its biggest weekly gain since December 2018 on tight domestic supply.
The steelmaking material for January delivery closed at 2,417.50 yuan ($365.31) a tonne on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange, up 3.3%, and just below a contract high of 2,420 yuan.
Dalian coke jumped 9.7% from last week, outpacing Dalian iron ore’s 0.4% weekly gain.
“The current tight coke supply and demand situation has intensified,” analysts at Sinosteel Futures in Beijing wrote in a note.
Several coke-producing provinces in China are eliminating inefficient plants, reducing supply of the processed form of coking or metallurgical coal, while demand remained brisk among steel producers.
“The apparent consumption of steel has rebounded recently, and the destocking has been more obvious, which has driven the price of steel to rise,” Sinosteel analysts said.
As steel prices rose while iron ore prices eased from six-year peaks touched in September, they said margins of steel blast furnaces also improved, keeping demand for coke strong.
Dalian coking coal slipped 0.6%.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Iron ore futures rose but capped gains amid signs of weaker demand and rising supply in China, with the most-traded Dalian contract up 0.8% at 789.50 yuan a tonne, while the Singapore Exchange benchmark gained 0.9% to $114.15 a tonne by 0735 GMT.
* Spot iron ore prices have been relatively stable this week, trading at $118.50 a tonne on Thursday, as per SteelHome consultancy data. SH-CCN-IRNOR62
* Construction steel rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose 0.8% while hot-rolled coil climbed 0.3%. Stainless steel steadied.
* China’s stainless steel production is forecast to rise by 2.1% this year to more than 30 million tonnes amid robust demand.
Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri
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