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 decline modestly over December 27-31, as steel traders could hardly agree on the current high prices. Therefore, most traders tend to keep their stocks at a low level on the anticipation of further declines in the rebar prices. And by December 23, rebar stocks at the commercial warehouses in China's 132 cities under Mysteel's tracking had declined for the 11th week by another 5.1% to 5.2 million tonnes.

Hot-rolled coil: This price may climb in the week ending December 31, chiefly as limited availability and shrinking stocks at the traders have lent some support to the prices. HRC stocks at the commercial warehouses in the 55 Chinese cities under Mysteel's survey had declined for the second week as of December 23, down 3.4% on week to 2.9 million tonnes.

Cold-rolled coil: The price may ease this week, as end-users have been inactive in buying with the Chinese New Year holiday just around the corner over January 31- February 6, while production among steel mills has remained largely stable.

Medium plate: The price is likely to soften over December 27-31, as most traders have been willing to sell off stocks to lower the risks, and by December 23, medium plate stocks at the commercial warehouses in the 65 Chinese cities under Mysteel's tracking had slipped for the seventh week by another 1% to 1.7 million tonnes.

Section: The price is expected to ease in the week ending December 31, as demand from both traders and end-users has been sluggish on tight cash flow towards the end of the month, and the price of the Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan, North China's Hebei, eased by Yuan 60/tonne ($9.4/t) on week to Yuan 4,340/t EXW including the 13% VAT by December 26, 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.