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 further over November 15-19, as demand from end-users has been more sluggish than expected, and most traders have tendency to sell off stocks to lower the exposure to pricing risks. Rebar stocks at China’s 137 steelmakers under Mysteel’s tracking increased for the fourth week last week, up 2.1% on week to 2.9 million tonnes as of November 11.
Hot-rolled coil: This price may decline in the week ending November 19, as there is limited room for orders from end-users to pick up, and traders are willing to offload the volumes on hand at lower prices though they are not under great pressure of stocks, as by November 11, HRC stocks at the commercial warehouses in China’s 55 cities under Mysteel’s survey had declined for the fifth week, down another 4.1% to 3.4 million tonnes though still being 69,800 tonnes higher on year.
Cold-rolled coil: The price may soften too this week, as most end-users have been procuring only to fulfill immediate needs, and most traders have been reluctant to stock up too, and CRC stocks at China’s 29 steelmakers under Mysteel’s tracking, thus, grew for the third week by another 2.3% to 327,500 tonnes as of November 11.
Medium plate: The price is likely to be soften over November 15-19, as steelmakers have been willing to give in on their list prices on lower production costs, and traders have opted to cut offering prices to boost sales.
Sections: The price is expected to drop in the week ending November 19, as Chinese producers have been willing to lower their ex-works prices, and bookings from traders have been limited. At the same time, the price of the Q235 150mm square billet in North China’s Tangshan under Mysteel’s assessment slumped after two weeks of stability, down Yuan 770/tonne ($120.7/t) on week to a nine-month low of Yuan 4,130/t EXW including the VAT as of November 14.
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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