Below is the brief near-term outlook for the five key steel products Mysteel shares on a weekly basis, drawing upon the results of related surveys and communication with Chinese market participants.
Rebar & wire rod: The prices of these longs may be narrowly range-bound over July 11-15, as the room for demand to pick up further is rather limited during the traditionally slack period for steel consumption in China, and the resurgence of COVID-19 cases nationwide.
As of July 7, rebar stocks at 429 warehouses in 132 China’s cities under Mysteel’s survey had declined by 3.8% on week to 11.2 million tonnes.
Hot-rolled coil: This price may slip in the week ending July 15, as end-users only procured to fulfill their immediate demand amid relatively high supply from mills. By July 6, HRC output at 37 steelmakers under Mysteel’s tracking stood at 3.1 million tonnes, despite an on-week decline of 132,400 tonnes.
Cold-rolled coil: The price may fall this week, as end-users have shown little interest in buying when the prices have yet to show any signs of stabilizing. Besides, most traders have taken on a pessimistic stance on the prices with higher stocks at hand.
Medium plate: The price is likely to drop over July 11-15, as some traders are willing to cut their offering prices to facilitate sales.
Sections: The prices are expected to soften this week, as supply from mills has exceeded demand from end-users, which weighed on the prices. As of July 10, the Q235 150mm square billet price in North China’s Tangshan had eased by Yuan 120/tonne ($17.9/t) on week to Yuan 3,820/t EXW and including the 13% VAT, according to Mysteel’s assessment.
Written by Villanelle Xia, xiayi@mysteel.com
Note: This article has been published in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
Leave a Reply