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

Mysteel: Below is the brief near-term outlook for five key steel products, shared by Mysteel weekly, drawing upon the results of related surveys and communication with Chinese market participants.

Rebar, wire rod: Prices of these two construction steel products are likely to strengthen over 18-20 September, supported by ongoing declines in steel inventories, rising production, and recovering demand. Market sentiment is also likely to improve with more positive expectations for the macroeconomic outlook.

Hot-rolled coil (HRC): Prices are expected to move up in the week through 20 September, driven by improved sentiment among market participants with the easing of the HRC supply-demand imbalance and restocking demand before the week-long National Day holiday starting 1 October.

HRC stocks at commercial warehouses in the 33 Chinese cities Mysteel monitors retreated by 88,700 tonnes (t) or 2.5% w-o-w to around 3.4 million tonnes (mnt) as of 12 September.

Cold-rolled coil (CRC): Prices may be narrowly range-bound in the week ending 20 September, with production staying largely stable and end-users buying the product mainly for their immediate needs. The CRC output of the 29 steel mills Mysteel samples may stand at 830,000-840,000 t this week.

Medium plate: Prices are estimated to fluctuate slightly over 18-20 September. The fundamentals of the medium plate segment have recovered moderately, but a pick-up in demand after the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday remains to be seen, according to a market source in northern China.

Sections: Prices may hover at high levels this week, with production witnessing an uptick and end-users taking a wait-and-watch stance towards procurement due to uncertainties about downstream demand recovery.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.