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 the Chinese market participants.
Rebar & wire rod: The prices of these longs may soften modestly over July 19-23, as demand from end-users has been declining in the hot and rainy summer nationwide. Besides, rebar stocks in the commercial warehouses of China’s 132 cities increased for the fifth week as of July 15, though the pace slowed to 1.5% on the week to a total of 11.7 million tonnes.
Hot-rolled coil: This price may lose some steam in the week ending July 23, as most end-users have taken on a cautious stance of buying, and as of July 15, HRC stocks in the commercial warehouses of China’s 55 cities increased for the seventh week, up another 2.3% on week to 4 million tonnes.
Cold-rolled coil: The price is likely to inch up in the week to July 23, as stocks at the traders under Mysteel’s tracking reversed down after four weeks of increases, indicating fundamentals had improved.
Medium plate: The price may strengthen over July 19-23, as many producers tend to raise their offering prices on the improvement in market sentiment.
Sections: The price is expected to grow modestly in the week ending July 23, as most re-rollers are likely to raise ex-works prices on high production costs with billet in particular. As of July 18, the price of the Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan, North China’s Hebei province, gained Yuan 50/tonne ($7.7/t) on week to Yuan 5,180/t EXW including the 13% VAT, or a new high since May 20.
~ Written by Villanelle Xia, xiayi@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint Research.
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