China's investment in property rose 11.8% year on year to Yuan 1.31 trillion ($193.8 billion) in August.

Nickel price trend on September 17th

LME nickel price trend on September 16th

This is because upward momentum in property and infrastructure, which account for over 55% of China's total steel consumption, has slowed.

The settlements for BF-grade pellet premiums are nearly flat with the previous quarter and lower by around $3/dmt for DR-grade pellets.

Only 18% of respondents expected their iron ore requirements to increase in Q4.

Strong demand from the property sector was lending some support to long steel, aluminum and copper markets in September, market sources said.

The 2010 ferrosilicon contract price on ZCE closed at 5644 yuan per ton on September 17.