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 two longs may ease over May 29-June 2, given the sullen market sentiment and the still-weak downstream demand due to intense rains across many parts of the country.

Hot-rolled coil: This price is forecast to soften further in the week through June 2, with pressures from an imbalanced supply and demand, as stocks may hardly be digested substantially when there remains more room for production to increase.

Cold-rolled coil: This price may trend downwards over May 29-June 2, as mills' production may remain at high levels though they may have difficulty in receiving new orders in early June. In addition, demand for cold coils from the manufacturing industry may stay flat during the same period.

Medium plate: The plate price is expected to be largely stable in the week ending June 2, though the near-term demand recovery is still under pressure, as many end-users prefer to sit on the fence.

Sections: This price may see a small on-week decline over May 29-June 2, as end-users have mainly procured section steel products to meet their immediate needs.

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.