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 basing on a series of related surveys and communication with market participants.

Rebar & wire rod: Construction steel prices are expected to wobble modestly over Apr 13-17, as China's steel mills have been ramping up production, though the pace of inventories digestion at both the steel mills and the traders picked up over Apr 6-10.

Hot-rolled coil: The slight recovery observed in the HRC sector last week may lose some steam over Apr 13-17, primarily due to the persistent pressure from the lackluster downstream demand and the swelling in the production.

Cold-rolled coil: CRC price may slide marginally over Apr 13-17, as demand remains bleak for both domestic sales and exports with the COVID-19 pandemic yet to be contained.

Medium plate: Market participants expect medium plate price to stabilize or even inch up slightly over Apr 13-17, as finished steel inventories at the traders fell further by 4.3% on week over Apr 6-10 in contrast to a 1.7% week-on-week rise at the mills' stocks.

Sections: The section price may hover low over Apr 13-17, as downstream users refrained from procuring in bulk but to buy on demand over Apr 6-10, and the price of the key semi-finished steel - billet in Tangshan, North China's Hebei province, stayed flat on week at Yuan 3,030/MT as of Apr 10.