Another night of ugliness in Asia as the 'froth' is blasted out of the exuberant hot-money-chased commodity markets. Chinese steel and iron ore futures tumbled on Wednesday to the lowest prices in months as market sentiment turned bearish on the demand outlook.
As Reuters reports, China's producer price inflation cooled for the first time in seven months in March, pressured by fears that Chinese steel production is higher than demand, leaving a glut of the metal later this year.
"We're not seeing much interest on the buy side, everyone is nervous that the bottom is falling out," said a commodities trader in Perth, Australia, who closely monitors activity on China's Dalian and Shanghai Futures Exchanges for overseas clients.
The most active rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange settled 3.5 percent down at 2,893 yuan ($420), the lowest since Feb. 2. The sharp decline in steel futures has tamed buying interest in the physical market as well. Iron ore for delivery to China's Qingdao port has swung into a bear market, with the price sinking more than 20 percent from its 2017 high in February to $74.38 a tonne, according to Metal Bulletin.
It seems the hopes of Trumpflation (and the fading China credit impulse) has erased growth hope...