Steel boom in China suspended

China's steel production dropped from a record high in at least six months as the tackle of environmental pollution, as outlined in President Xi Jinping's policy this week, took its toll on metallurgy.

Production fell to 71.83 million tons in September from 74.59 million tons the month before, according to a report from the statistics bureau. In nine months, production was still higher than in 2016, rising 6.3 percent to 639 million tonnes, the data showed.

China's efforts to reduce pollution from obsolete factories, especially during the winter, is an important policy theme that Xi refers to in his biennial address to the Communist Party. Steel production proved to be robust last year as officials closed several factories that did not meet standards and remaining producers increased supplies ahead of winter restrictions.

However, yesterday, construction rebar futures lost 2.2 percent on the Shanghai Futures Exchange as the price of hot rolled coil fell. In Singapore, SGX AsiaClear iron ore futures are down 2.5 percent at $ 60.15 a tonne. Iron ore in Qingdao stood at $ 60.88 per tonne, up from nearly $ 80 per tonne in August.

In his speech, Xi outlined a development strategy until 2050 that emphasized the quality of growth in terms of quantity or rate of expansion.