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.

Rebar & wire rod: The price is estimated to be rangebound over July 6-10, as Tangshan city in North China's Hebei province has extended restriction on local steel mills' blast furnaces and sintering machines until the end of July for pollution control, which is expected to lend support to construction steel pricing when the demand from end-users is likely to be dampened further by frequent rainfalls this week.

Hot-rolled coil: Market participants expect the price to hover at the present level over July 6-10, citing lackluster downstream demand coupled with a 2% week-on-week reverse-up in traders' HRC inventories by July 2.

Cold-rolled coil: The price may continue to hover high over July 6-10, mainly on the support of improvement in the near- and medium-term market outlook, as well as the slow-down detected in Chinese steel mills' production ramp-up.

Medium plate: The price is likely to inch down over July 6-10, as spot trading has been shrinking after China's Dragon Boat Festival amid the weakening demand from related industries.

Sections: The price may lose some steam over July 6-10, as more traders have lowered offering prices in exchange for more sales, and spot price of billet softened modestly in the week ending July 3, with that of the Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan city, for example, down Yuan 10/tonne ($1.4/t) on week to Yuan 3,310/t EXW including the 13% VAT as of July 3.

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