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 may stay rangebound over August 24-28, as end-user demand is unlikely to recover immediately this week amid sizzling summer temperatures, although work on some construction projects will resume after the floods recede.

Hot-rolled coil: The price is seen stabilizing in North China but edging down in the southern region, where the volumes of shipments arriving from the north are on a consistent rise, pushing up inventories at local retail warehouses.

Cold-rolled coil: Market participants expect the price to strengthen further over August 24-28. They cite a sustained decline observed in stocks held by both the steel mills and the traders as of August 20, as well as decent orders the mills have received from their end-users.

Medium plate: The price may drift marginally over August 24-28, given the 2.6% week-on-week rise in the steel mills' stocks as of August 20, and the lacklustre demand from consuming sectors such as shipbuilding and machinery manufacturing.

Sections: The price may soften moderately over August 24-28 under the pressure of tepid spot trading and weakening prices of billet, the key feed for sections mills. The price of Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan, for example, softened by Yuan 10/tonne ($1.4/t) on week as of August 21 to Yuan 3,410/t EXW including the 13% VAT.

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

Photo : World Steel