WEEKLY: 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 items are estimated to stay narrowly volatile in the week ending June 14, with the destocking of their inventories at commercial warehouses slowing, while both downstream demand and mills' output have shown signs of weakening.

Hot-rolled coil: This price may continue on the downtrend over June 11-14, under the combined pressure of high-level production and weak spot sales. A source in northern China shares that local traders have reduced order quantities to soothe cash flow pressure, and most of them hold a cautious market outlook.

Cold-rolled coil: This price is likely to be slightly rangebound in the week through June 14, as demand may shrink further amid hot and rainy weather across the country, but there may be no significant change on the supply side.

Medium plate: This price may fluctuate marginally over June 11-14. A South China's Guangdong-based source told Mysteel Global that the near-term market sentiment would be shaky, and end-users would not be enthusiastic about purchasing the plates. Meanwhile, a source in North China predicts that high production could weigh on prices and plate demand will remain slack.

Sections: The sections' prices may soften over June 11-14. Production of sections this week may persist low as mills will not be keen to ramp up output of section steel given squeezed margins and low demand. "End-users mainly buy sections at low prices, and spot trading of sections has been restrained due to the impact of rainy weather in southern China," a market insider said.

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