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. January 29-30 are the make-up working days for the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday starting from January 31 to February 6.

Rebar & wire rod: The prices of these longs may be narrowly rangebound over January 24-30, as spot trading is expected to stay lukewarm with most end-users having completed their winter restocking. As of January 20, rebar stocks at the 429 commercial warehouses in the 132 Chinese cities under Mysteel's tracking had surged by 11.6% on week to 6.1 million tonnes.

Hot-rolled coil: This price may climb in the week ending January 30, as stocks have been mounting at a slower pace than expected amid low supply and demand. As of January 20, HRC stocks at the 194 commercial warehouses in China's 55 cities under Mysteel's tracking had grown for the third week by another 2.1% on week to 2.9 million tonnes.

Cold-rolled coil: The price may ease this week, as stocks are likely to accumulate at a faster pace with stable output from steel producers yet plummeting spot trading volumes ahead of the CNY holiday.

Medium plate: The price is likely to edge up over January 24-30, as most traders have tendency of firming their offering prices on the anticipation of lower output due to the ongoing production curbs among some steel producers.

Section: This price is expected to strengthen in the week ending January 30, as most mills are likely to lift or firm their ex-works prices for replenishment need from end-users and traders. The price of the Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan, North China's Hebei province, increased by Yuan 100/tonne ($15.7/t) on week to reach Yuan 4,480/t EXW including the 13% VAT as of January 23, 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.