Iron ore dips on Chinese steel export concerns, US-Sino trade tensions

By Michele Pek

SINGAPORE, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Iron ore futures prices weakened for a third straight session on Wednesday, weighed by a dampening outlook for Chinese steel exports and rising trade tensions between the U.S. and top consumer China.

The most-traded May iron ore contract on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) DCIOcv1 traded 0.61% lower at 815 yuan ($112.29) a metric ton, as of 0301 GMT.

The benchmark March iron ore SZZFH5 on the Singapore Exchange was 0.3% higher at $106.35 a ton.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a memorandum last week aiming to step up restrictions on Chinese investment in strategic areas, causing Chinese equities to stumble on Tuesday.

Due to additional levies imposed by Vietnam and South Korea, China's direct steel exports will be affected, putting pressure on prices, said Chinese consultancy Hexun Futures in a note.

Vietnam announced last week that it will impose a temporary anti-dumping levy on some steel products from China, while South Korea has provisionally imposed tariffs on Chinese steel plate imports.

Still, the U.S dollar =USD sagged near an 11-week low against its major peers on Wednesday. USD/

A weaker dollar makes dollar-denominated commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies. FRX/

Steel mills have resumed production, increasing demand for raw material replenishment, added Hexun.

In China, daily crude steel production of key steel enterprises logged a monthly increase of 0.8% to 2.151 million tons, while daily average steel production grew 4.2% on-month to 2.037 million tons, said Chinese consultancy Lange Steel, citing statistics from the China Iron and Steel Industry Association.

Other steelmaking ingredients on the DCE posted marginal losses, with coking coal DJMcv1 and coke DCJcv1 down 0.46% and 0.33%, respectively.

Steel benchmarks on the Shanghai Futures Exchange traded sideways. Rebar SRBcv1 edged up 0.76% and hot-rolled coil SHHCcv1 gained 1%, while stainless steel SHSScv1 dipped 0.53% and wire rod SWRcv1 ticked down 0.06%.

($1 = 7.2579 Chinese yuan)