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 slip over May 23-27, as demand from end-users has remained sluggish due to the COVID containment measures and heavy rainfalls in South China. Meanwhile, rebar stocks at 429 warehouses in China's 132 cities under Mysteel's survey slipped by 1.3% on week to 12 million tonnes as of May 19.

Hot-rolled coil: This price may drop in the week ending May 27, as end-users have shown little interest in buying on the bearish sentiment. As of May 19, HRC stocks at 194 warehouses in 55 Chinese cities under Mysteel's tracking eased by 2.7% on week to 3.9 million tonnes.

Cold-rolled coil: The price may be narrowly range-bound this week, as most end-users only procure to fulfill their immediate demand amid high supply from steelmakers.

Medium plate: The price is likely to ease over May 23-27, as some mills have been active in producing on improved profits. As of May 18, plate output among 37 steelmakers under Mysteel's tracking gained by 7,300 tonnes on week to 1.48 million tonnes.

Section: This price is expected to decline this week, as some traders have been willing to trim their offering prices to offload some volumes with high stocks at hand. As of May 22, the Q235 150mm square billet price in North China's Tangshan dropped Yuan 60/tonne ($9/t) on week to Yuan 4,520/t EXW and including the 13% VAT, according to Mysteel's assessment.

Written by Villanelle Xia, xiayi@mysteel.com

Note: This article has been published in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.