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 wobble though marginally over August 3-7, as the rising inventories at both the steel mills and the traders had weighed on their spot prices in the week ended July 31, and the pressure will remain, but at the same time, the persistently high raw material costs have and will lend some support to the prices.
Hot-rolled coil: Market participants expect the price to inch up over August 3-7, citing a 1.1% week-on-week drop in the steel mills’ inventories as of July 30 and the continuing recovery in HRC consumption in South China for the third straight week.
Cold-rolled coil: The price is likely to stay rangebound over August 3-7, as inventories declined markedly at the steel mills but reversed up modestly at the traders over the week through July 30 after three weeks of declines.
Medium plate: The price may stay firm over August 3-7, primarily on the support of the production cuts by the steel mills over July 27-31 and the relatively stronger consumption, even higher than the same period last year.
Sections: The price may lose some steam over August 3-7, as some re-rollers in Tangshan of North China are about to resume production gradually in early August, thus reducing the support on the spot price from the tight availability. Besides, the price of billet, the key feed to the section rolling mills, has been softening, with the Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan losing another Yuan 10/tonne ($1.4/t) on week to Yuan 3,390/t EXW including the 13% VAT as of July 31.
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
Photo: World Steel
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