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: The prices of these longs may be rangebound over May 22-26, with demand staying slack due to adverse weather conditions and tight cashflows among end-users, and mills are unlikely to further rein in their production in the near term.

Hot-rolled coil: This price may continue with the downtrend in the week ending May 26, as the market supply has still been hovering at a high level despite recent declines in steelmakers' output, and end-users are expected to only procure the product to meet their immediate needs. There remains a mismatch between supply and demand in the domestic hot-rolled coil market.

Cold-rolled coil: This price may stay on the downswing over May 22-26, mainly due to the remaining high production and sullen demand from the manufacturing industry.

The output of cold-rolled coil (CRC) among the 29 CRC mills Mysteel tracks may stay at around 800,000-820,000 tonnes over May 18-24.

Medium plate: This price is forecast to soften over May 22-26, as the recovery in market demand may remain under pressure, and end-users may keep sitting on the fence.

Sections: This price is likely to decline further in the week through May 26, as the release of downstream demand is weaker than market participants has expected, with re-rollers' orders staying lackluster.

Written by Rong Zhang, zhangronga@mysteel.com
Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com

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