Dalian iron ore up 0.4% Virus worries may delay China's...

• Dalian iron ore up 0.4%
• Virus worries may delay China's post-holiday construction -ANZ
• Coking coal, coke mostly trading flat

SHANGHAI, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Shanghai steel futures extended losses in thin trading on Thursday ahead of a week-long Lunar New Year break on worries that a new coronavirus outbreak in the country would hit construction activity.

The Shanghai Futures Exchange's most-traded steel rebar contract SRBcv1 fell 0.4% to 3,523 yuan ($510.28) per tonne on Thursday at around 0215 GMT. It is down about 2% in what would be its first weekly fall in a month.

Shanghai's hot-rolled steel coil SHHCcv1 , used in cars and home appliances, also slipped 0.4% to 3,534 yuan per tonne and is down nearly 3% for the week so far.

"The spreading coronavirus in China is raising concerns that the busy construction period following the Lunar New year will be delayed," ANZ Research wrote in a note.

"Construction activity has been positive for the steel and iron ore sector. However, any disruption at this peak time could rattle the fragile recovery that emerged in December," it added.

China has confirmed 571 total cases and 17 deaths stemming from the outbreak of the coronavirus, which is believed to have emerged late last year from illegally traded wildlife at an animal market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

Meanwhile, benchmark iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 with May expiry held steady after China's second-biggest steelmaker, HBIS Group, said it secured two letters of credit to purchase iron ore from Brazil's Vale VALE3.SA in a 200 million yuan contract denominated in the Chinese currency.

Iron ore prices were last up 0.4% to 667.5 yuan per tonne. Spot prices of the benchmark 62% iron-content ore, as tracked by SteelHome consultancy SH-CCN-IRNOR62 , fell by $0.4 to $96.8 per tonne on Wednesday.

FUNDAMENTALS

• Stainless steel futures SHSSc1 on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for February 2020 delivery fell 0.3% to 13,980 yuan per tonne.
• Dalian coking coal DJMcv1 was trading flat at 1,218.5 yuan per tonne, while Dalian coke DCJcv1 slightly fell 0.03% to 1,839 yuan per tonne at around 0215 GMT.
• The London Metal Exchange said it plans to launch a euro-denominated hot-rolled coil steel contract in the second half of 2020, but does not currently have active plans for manganese or ferrochrome contracts.
• About two-thirds of China's provinces, regions and municipalities have cut their 2020 growth targets from last year despite easing trade tensions with the United States, reinforcing expectations of a further slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

($1 = 6.9040 Chinese yuan)