WEEKLY: Near-term outlook on China's key steel products

Below is the brief near-term outlook for the 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 slip over September 19-23, as most traders have been willing to sell off some stocks at lower prices to reduce risks. Rebar stocks at 429 warehouses in 132 Chinese cities under Mysteel's tracking grew by 1.9% on week to 7.6 million tonnes as of September 15.

Hot-rolled coil: This price may decline in the week ending September 23, as most end-users have remained cautious about stocking up ahead of China's National Day holiday over October 1-7, with only those in urgent need of HRC taking some tonnage.

Cold-rolled coil: The price may be narrowly range-bound this week, as stocks have been hovering at a high level, while recovering demand from end-users lent some support to the prices. By September 15, CRC inventories at 182 warehouses in 29 Chinese cities under Mysteel's tracking were assessed at 2.1 million tonnes, despite an on-week decline of 14,000 tonnes.

Medium plate: The price is likely to drop over September 19-23, as demand from end-users has been sluggish amid rising supply from mills.

Sections: Prices are expected to soften this week, as the accumulation of stocks continues weighing on the prices. The Q235 150mm square billet price in North China's Tangshan under Mysteel's assessment eased by Yuan 60/tonne ($8.6/t) from September 12 to reach Yuan 3,660/t EXW and including the 13% VAT as of September 18.

Written by Villanelle Xia, xiayi@mysteel.com

Edited by Zhenqi Yang, yangzhenqi@mysteel.com

This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.