بلومبرگ: فولاد چین گرفتار مخمصه معاملات شبانه سنگ آهن

به گزارش پترومتالز، انجمن آهن و فولاد چین درخواست کرده است که تایم شبانه معاملات آتی سنگ آهن در بورس چین متوقف شود. بلومبرگ در مطلبی از این درخواست انجمن آهن و فولاد چین رمزگشایی کرده و آن را به کاهش حاشیه سود شرکت‌های فولادی چینی مرتبط دانسته است.

علت اصلی کاهش حاشیه سود شرکت‌های فولادی چین در ماه‌های اخیر، روند ضعیف ریکاوری اقتصاد چین در دوره پساکرونا و بحران بخش مسکن این کشور بوده اما تلاطم‌های قیمت سنگ آهن نیز در این میان نقش داشته است. شرکت‌های فولادی چینی نمی‌خواهند که سود آن‌ها به سمت تأمین‌کنندگان سنگ آهن (خصوصاً شرکت‌های واقع در استرالیا) سرازیر شود.

شرکت‌های بزرگ فولادی چینی کنترل کمی بر معاملات آتی سنگ آهن در بورس کالای دالیان در تایم شبانه آن دارند و به همین خاطر درخواست تعطیلی معاملات شبانه را مطرح کرده‌اند.

متن کامل گزارش بلومبرگ را در این خصوص بخوانید:

Chinese Steel Is Caught in a Night Trading Dilemma

After China introduced nighttime trading for iron ore futures in 2014, many in the sector saw a significant effort by the world’s largest buyer to increase its pricing power.

Almost nine years on, the country’s steel industry wants to end the experiment.

According to a risk-assessment report written by the China Iron & Steel Association but not yet submitted to authorities, the price mechanism needs to improve, citing studies by state researchers and mills.

Scrutiny over derivatives trading tends to increase in China during periods of poor profitability for the sector, and volatility in key industrial ingredients has been a major concern for some months. The body responsible for state-owned assets is particularly sensitive to losses.

China has already cracked down on iron ore inventories at trading firms and summoned market players to explain price hikes, and is intensifying checks on commodity transactions that officials suspect are being used to obtain subsidies and cheap funds.

Steel executives and traders, who asked not to be identified as they aren’t authorized to speak publicly, agree that weak profits are primarily the result of China’s unimpressive economic recovery and a sluggish property market.

But iron ore futures are also to blame.

The country’s large mills rarely use domestic contracts — including the active Dalian iron ore and steel rebar futures in Shanghai — to hedge. It isn’t easy for integrated steel companies to find perfect hedges, and the timing of night sessions doesn’t suit executives, either.

Instead, the extended hours appeal to independent traders and retail investors, who like to team up to bet together and ambush opponents on the other side of the market. For them, the electronic session from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. every working day functions well.

Beijing has long sought to ensure that Chinese mills — which account for more than half of global steel production — remain lucrative rather than giving up profits to raw materials suppliers. Getting rid of night trading is one way of keeping things more predictable.

What’s less clear is how this furthers China’s efforts to increase its influence on price — or how Beijing will deal with even larger fluctuations that come with reduced availability of hedging tools.