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 the Chinese market participants.

Rebar & wire rod: The prices of these longs may be narrowly rangebound over December 20-24, as most construction sites in the southern part of China have remained their normal operations, and construction steel supply from mills will remain largely stable.

Steel traders tend to sell off their stocks to minimize the risks on the anticipation of further decline in rebar prices, and by December 16, rebar stocks at the commercial warehouses in China's 132 cities under Mysteel's tracking had declined for the 10th week by another 5% to 5.5 million tonnes.

Hot-rolled coil: The steel price may slip in the week ending December 24, as most end-users procured only to meet immediate demand, and traders have been willing to sell off some stocks to lower the risks, as HRC stocks at the commercial warehouses in the 55 Chinese cities under Mysteel's survey reversed from one week of rise as of December 16, down 2.9% on week to 3.1 million tonnes.

Cold-rolled coil: The price may climb this week, as supply from steelmakers is expected to decline due to maintenance stoppages and the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in some parts of China amid stable demand from end-users.

Medium plate: The price is likely to soften over December 20-24, as most traders have adopted a bearish sentiment on the prices mainly due to lukewarm trading in the spot market.

Sections: The price is expected to edge up in the week ending December 24, as most mills tend to firm their ex-works prices on higher production costs, and the price of the Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan, North China's Hebei, reached a 1.5-month high of Yuan 4,400/tonne ($690.4/t) EXW including the VAT as of December 19, up Yuan 90/t on week, according to Mysteel's assessment.

Written by Villanelle Xia, xiayi@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.