China steel futures drifted in a narrow range on April 29 as market participants refrained from making big bets while waiting to see how much government infrastructure stimulus measures would revive demand for the construction material.
A cabinet meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang pledged on Tuesday that China would speed up construction of new infrastructure and upgrade its information industry to meet huge domestic demand.
The most traded construction rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, for October delivery, closed with a 0.03% dip to 3,302 yuan/t ($466.74/t).
A Reuters poll of 32 economists showed China's factory activity likely rose for a second straight month in April as more businesses re-opened from strict lockdowns implemented to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
But it's still not clear how steel consumption in the manufacturing sector is going to recover as the global market largely remains paralysed by the pandemic.
Hot-rolled coil futures, used in cars and home appliances, inched up 0.2% to 3,159 yuan/t.
Prices for steelmaking raw materials meanwhile fell, with coking coal for September delivery down 0.5% to 1,040 yuan/t, and coke down 0.2% to 1,657 yuan/t.
Benchmark iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange ended 0.6% lower at 596 yuan/t.
(Writing by Jessie Jia Editing by Alex Guo)
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