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 construction steel products may trend upwards over July 24-28, as work on construction sites across many parts of China may improve with heavy rainfalls forecast to hit only North and Northeast China while high temperatures may engulf Northwest China's Xinjiang.

Hot-rolled coil: This price is likely to rise further in the week through July 28, underpinned by the replenishment needs among end-users.

Cold-rolled coil: This price is forecast to strengthen continuously in the week ending July 28, as steel consumption from the manufacturing sector may remain resilient with enterprises seeing their new orders recover slowly.

Medium plate: This price may be narrowly rangebound over July 24-28, with many market participants taking a stance that the market would be largely stable. Last week, mills' production enthusiasm abated modestly and plate procurement from end-users was flat.

Sections: The sections' prices may move up over July 24-28, as output from steelmakers based in North China may decline due to the ongoing curbing measures imposed on local re-rollers and blast-furnace mills to reduce heavy air pollution. The prices may be persistently affected by the factors such as market fundamentals, macro policies, and cash flow.

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.