Near-term outlook on China's steel products

Below is the brief near-term outlook for five key steel products Mysteel shares on a weekly basis, drawing upon the results of related surveys and communication with Chinese market participants.

Rebar & wire rod: Prices of the two long steel products are likely to move up over March 25-29, with their production slightly fluctuating, while demand gains upward momentum and inventories at both mills and traders continue with the downtrend.

Hot-rolled coil: This price will stay rangebound in the week ending March 29. Although stocks of hot-rolled coils show signs of declining, the pace is slow, and the overall volume remains at a high level. End-users appear cautious about procurement after the rebound in prices, and spot trading for the flat steel is still slack despite a small improvement.

Cold-rolled coil: This price may weaken in the week through March 29, with cold-rolled coil production among steelmakers hovering high at around 850,000-860,000 tonnes, while downstream demand has yet to show a substantial rise.

Medium plate: This price is forecast to be marginally volatile over March 25-29. A North China-based source cited the overall flat demand and cautious market mood. On the other hand, plate output may persist high as domestic steel mills' enthusiasm for lifting production grows with improved steel margins.

Sections: The sections' prices may be largely stable over March 25-29. The output of sections may perch at a high level with many integrated mills resuming operations last week, while the recovery in demand may remain slow, resulting in a mounting contradiction between supply and demand.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between MySteel Global and BigMint.