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 grow over March 14-18, mainly underpinned by low supply from Chinese steelmakers. As of March 9, rebar output among China’s 137 steel mills under Mysteel’s survey stayed at a low level of 2.96 million tonnes, despite an on-week growth of 64,100 tonnes.
Hot-rolled coil: This price may be narrowly rangebound in the week ending March 18, as low supply from steelmakers lent some support to the HRC prices. However, demand from end-users was lackluster, mainly constrained by high HRC prices. As of March 9, HRC output among China’s 37 steelmakers under Mysteel’s tracking declined by 221,400 tonnes on week to 2.95 million tonnes.
Cold-rolled coil: The price may gain this week, as supply from steelmakers in North China may decline with scheduled maintenance stoppages. As of March 9, CRC output among China’s 29 steelmakers under Mysteel’s tracking slipped by 26,400 tonnes on week to 802,200 tonnes.
Medium plate: The price is likely to increase modestly over March 14-18, as demand from end-users has been recovering. As of March 10, plate stocks at 217 commercial warehouses in China’s 65 cities under Mysteel’s tracking eased for the third week by another 78,000 tonnes to 2.35 million tonnes.
Section: This price is expected to strengthen in the week ending March 18, as most steelmakers have tendency of firming ex-work prices on high production costs.
As of March 13, the Q235 150mm square billet price in Tangshan, North China’s Hebei province, has edged down Yuan 20/tonne ($3.2/t) on week to Yuan 4,720/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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