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 gain over February 28-March 4, amid low supply from Chinese steelmakers. As of February 23, rebar output among China’s 137 steel mills under Mysteel’s survey was at a low level of 2.74 million tonnes despite an on-week growth of 175,700 tonnes.
Hot-rolled coil: This price may climb in the week ending March 4, mainly underpinned by growing demand from end-users. As of February 24, HRC stocks at 194 warehouses in China’s 55 cities under Mysteel’s tracking reversed from six weeks of rises, down 1% on week to 4 million tonnes.
Cold-rolled coil: The price may slip this week, with the continuous accumulation of stocks weighing on the prices. As of February 24, CRC stocks at the 182 commercial warehouses in the 29 Chinese cities under Mysteel’s tracking had grown for the sixth week by another 1.8% to 2.2 million tonnes.
Medium plate: The price is likely to be narrowly rangebound over February 28-March 4, as most traders had tendency of firming their prices on the anticipation of better demand from end-users.
Section: This price is expected to ease in the week ending March 4, as many steelmakers are willing to produce more given the high profits they’ve been enjoying. Besides, some traders with sufficient stocks at hand tended to offload some volumes even at lower prices to gain cashflow.
As of February 27, the Q235 150mm square billet price in Tangshan, North China’s Hebei province, has slipped Yuan 120/tonne ($19/t) on week to Yuan 4,550/t EXW including the 13% VAT, according to Mysteel’s assessment.
Written by Villanelle Xia, xiayi@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
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