China commodities prices dive as liquidity tightens further

The price of iron ore in Dalian led a charge lower by China commodities on Thursday as short-term borrowing costs on the mainland continued to rise.

Iron ore futures were down as much as 8 per cent on the Dalian Commodity Exchange at Rmb485 ($70.33) per tonne. Copper contracts on the Shanghai Futures Exchange were down 2.9 per cent at Rmb45,360 per tonne, but had been down as much as 3.6 per cent.

Coking coal futures in Dalian were down 6.7 per cent at Rmb1,039 per tonne, and had been off by as much as 7.9 per cent. Thermal coal contracts on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange dropped 2.6 per cent to Rmb513 per tonne.

Gold was faring badly despite its haven status, as futures fell 1.4 per cent to Rmb276.45 per gram.

Those falls came as the Shanghai interbank overnight rate, reflecting short-term borrowing costs in China, rose further from recent record levels to 2.8506 per cent, notching another newest high since April 3, 2015.