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 prices of the longs may strengthen over March 22-26, mainly underpinned by the strengthening demand, as March-April is traditionally a robust steel consumption season with most of the industrial activities especially outdoor construction works all returning to normal operations in spring.

Hot-rolled coil: The HRC price may spiral up in the week ending March 26, mainly driven by robust demand yet lower stocks, as the stocks in the commercial warehouses in China's 55 cities fell for the second week, dipping another 5.4% on week to 4.2 million tonnes as of March 18.

Cold-rolled coil: The price is likely to inch down in the week to March 26, as the traders and end-users have taken on a cautious stance on procurement.

Medium plate: The price may strengthen in the fourth week of March, mainly supported by the lower output and high production costs, and lower-priced cargoes before the Chinese New Year holiday had been almost consumed.

Sections: The price is forecast to move up in the week ending March 26, mainly prompted by high production costs and recovering demand. The price of the Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan, North China's Hebei province reversed up by Yuan 210/tonne ($32.3/t) on week to Yuan 4,620/t as of March 21, or an over 12-year high.

Written by Yi Xia, xiayi@mysteel.com

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