Near-term outlook on China’s steel products

• Longs prices to fall amid dull market sentiments
• HRC tags to soften on rising output, slow demand

Mysteel Global: 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 these two long steel products are projected to fall over 24-28 March, as market mood remains grim and the room for demand to increase is still limited.

Market insiders point out that warmer temperatures in some parts of the country will be pleasant for outdoor building activities, while rainy and snowy weather in northern regions will restrict the space for demand recovery.

Hot-rolled coil: Prices are likely to soften amid fluctuations in the week through 28 March, with rising output and a slow pick-up in downstream consumption.

HRC output among the 37 Chinese steelmakers that Mysteel samples grew for the second week over 13-19 March, up 1.8% or 56,800 tonnes (t) w-o-w to 3.2 million tonnes (mnt).

Cold-rolled coil: Prices are forecasted to be largely stable in the week ending March 28, with both demand and production holding steady.

CRC stocks held by traders in 26 cities Mysteel tracks across China thinned for the third week last week, down by 1.5% or 19,100 t w-o-w to 1.2 mnt as of 20 March.

Medium plate: Prices may be narrowly range-bound during 24-28 March. “There will be limited supplies of medium plates arriving at our local market,” a source in South China’s Guangdong predicted, adding that demand from end-users remains weak.

Sections: Prices may strengthen moderately this week, as demand from building contractors will keep growing, and relatively resilient tags of raw materials could provide some support. Meanwhile, sections’ output may hover higher, with re-rollers resuming operations and integrated makers ramping up production on rising margins.

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