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 25-29, as demand from end-users has yet to recover from COVID-induced disruptions. Meanwhile, there is limited room for rebar production to grow further, as China’s National Development and Reform Commission announced on April 19 that it will ensure lower crude steel output in 2022 than last year.
As of April 20, rebar output among China’s 137 steelmakers under Mysteel’s survey slipped by 2,900 tonnes on week to 3.1 million tonnes.
Hot-rolled coil: This price may lose some ground in the week ending April 29, as end-users procured only to fulfill their immediate demand, while stocks at traders remained at high levels. As of April 21, HRC stocks at 194 warehouses in 55 Chinese cities under Mysteel’s tracking grew 32,600 tonnes on week to 4 million tonnes.
Cold-rolled coil: The price may drop this week, as end-users were inactive in buying, even though some of them have resumed production after the easing in COVID-related restrictions.
Medium plate: The price is likely to slip over April 25-29, as stocks at traders continued to mount with sluggish demand from end-users. As of April 21, plate stocks at 217 warehouses in China’s 65 cities Mysteel tracks increased by 60,900 tonnes on week to 2.3 million tonnes.
Section: This price is expected to ease in the week ending April 29, as some traders were willing to sell off some stocks at lower prices to secure some profits.
As of April 24, the Q235 150mm square billet price in Tangshan, North China’s Hebei province, eased by Yuan 40/tonne ($6.1/t) on week to Yuan 4,750/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 exchange agreement between MySteel Global and SteelMint.
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