Chinese steel futures fell more than 2% on Monday, hit by concerns of regulatory disruptions after Premier Li Keqiang pledged to strengthen control of raw materials, but demand for the industrial metals remains robust.
"Overall economy and operation of enterprises have continued to recover, but surging international commodity prices have brought great pressure on companies' costs," official Xinhua news agency cited a symposium chaired by Li last week.
Li asked to strengthen market regulation of raw materials to ease the cost pressure of companies, according to Xinhua.
The most active steel rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange , for October delivery, fell 2.6% to 4,953 yuan ($755.42) a tonne as of 0253 GMT.
Hot rolled coils futures, used in cars and home appliances, dropped as much as 3.1% to 5,211 yuan per tonne in morning trade.
Demand for the steel products, however, remained strong at downstream users. China's Baoshan Iron & Steel had raised its hot rolled and cold rolled prices for May delivery by 400 yuan and 150 yuan per tonne, respectively.
Benchmark iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange dipped 0.9% to 980 yuan a tonne.
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