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 be narrowly range-bound over April 18-22, as demand from end-users remained sluggish with COVID-induced restrictions. Meanwhile, steelmakers have been inactive in producing, given shallow margins they could enjoy.
As of April 13, rebar output among China’s 137 steelmakers under Mysteel’s survey declined 24,700 tonnes on week to 3.1 million tonnes.
Hot-rolled coil: This price may slip in the week ending April 22, as trading activities in the spot market were dull amid COVID-19 impact. As of April 14, HRC stocks at 194 warehouses in 55 Chinese cities under Mysteel’s tracking grew 85,000 tonnes on week to 3.9 million tonnes.
Cold-rolled coil: The price may decline this week, as end-users have been cautious about buying, on fear that the pandemic will bring uncertainties to their production and logistics services.
Medium plate: The price is likely to lose some ground over April 18-22, as stocks at traders have been mounting amid dull demand from end-users. As of April 14, plate stocks at 217 warehouses in China’s 65 cities Mysteel tracks increased by 47,500 tonnes on week to 2.3 million tonnes.
Section: This price is expected to ease in the week ending April 22, as some end-users procured only to fulfill their immediate demand, while some traders opted to offload some tonnage even at lower prices to secure profits.
As of April 17, the Q235 150mm square billet price in Tangshan, North China’s Hebei province, stayed unchanged on week at Yuan 4,790/tonne ($750.5/t) EXW including the 13% VAT, according to Mysteel’s assessment.
Written by Villanelle Xia, xiayi@mysteel.com
Note- This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
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