Below is the brief near-term outlook of the five key steel products Mysteel shares on a weekly basis, drawing upon the results of related surveys and communication with market participants.
Rebar & wire rod: The price may be under pressure from the supply side over July 27-31, as finished steel supplies will edge up modestly after a group of steel mills in South China’s Guangdong province and North China’s Hebei province brought back their production after the maintenance in the prior week.
Hot-rolled coil: Market participants expect the price to weaken in North China due to the tepid spot trading locally, but to pick up in the southern region of the country as demand may recover with the rainy season soon to come to an end.
Cold-rolled coil: The price is likely to inch up over July 27-31, mainly underpinned by the continuous declines seen at the social inventories and thus the traders’ growing interest in replenishing stocks.
Medium plate: The price may strengthen with the range narrowing over July 27-31, due primarily to the tightened availability of medium plates after the steel mills allocated more hot metal to hot-rolled coil production for higher margins.
Sections: The price is estimated to hold firm over July 27-31, as most steel mills are unlikely to waver in offering on the strong support in the prices of billet, the key feed to the section rolling mills. The Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan city of Hebei, for example, softened Yuan 10/tonne ($1.4/t) on week to Yuan 3,400/t EXW including the 13% VAT as of July 24, but still hovering at its seven-month high.
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
Photo: World Steel
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