Near-term outlook on China's key steel products

Below is the brief near-term outlook of the five key steel products Mysteel shares on a weekly basis, drawing upon the results of related surveys and communication with market participants. China will be on holiday on June 25-26 to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival.

Rebar & wire rod: Market participants expect the prices to come down over June 22-24, as possible rainfalls in South and East China may dampen end-user demand in the short working week, even though steel mills seemed to have cut down on their production starting the third week of June.

Hot-rolled coil: The price is estimated to strengthen further in three days, as the continuous stock declines at both the steel mills and the traders will help shore up spot prices.

Cold-rolled coil: The price may continue to hover high over June 22-24, as most of the Chinese flat steel makers have raised their offering prices by Yuan 200-300/tonne ($28.3-42.4/t) for July deliveries, lending strong support to the price.

Medium plate: The price is predicted to undulate at its nearly one-year high level over June 22-24, as the latest price recovery in the international market will discourage the inflow of some lower-priced imports, thus mitigating the pressure on the domestic prices.

Sections: The price may inch down over June 22-24, squeezed by the shrinking end-user demand and the remaining high price of billet, a major raw material for section production. The price of the Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan of North China's Hebei province, for example, still hovered at above Yuan 3,300/t or about a five-month high despite being down Yuan 10/t on week to Yuan 3,310/t EXW including the 13% VAT as of June 19.

This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.