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 climb over July 25-29, as demand from end-users is expected to pick up amid mills’ low output. Over July 14-20, rebar production among Mysteel’s 137 sampled steel producers across China hit a record low of 2.3 million tonnes since Mysteel commenced the survey on February 27 2015, after having declined for the sixth week in a row by another 153,200 tonnes or 6.2% on week.
Hot-rolled coil: This price may be narrowly range-bound in the week ending July 29, as demand from end-users remained dull amid traders’ mounting stocks. By July 21, HRC stocks at 194 warehouses in 55 Chinese cities under Mysteel’s tracking stood at 4.3 million tonnes, up 21,000 tonnes on week.
Cold-rolled coil: The price may narrowly fluctuate this week, as some mills will adjust their production in accordance with new orders, which in turn will ease the pressure of high stocks at mills and traders.
Medium plate: The price is likely to grow modestly over July 25-29, as demand from end-users has tendency of recovering amid improved market sentiment. By July 21, plate stocks at 217 warehouses in China’s 65 cities under Mysteel’s tracking stood at 2.2 million tonnes, down by 18,200 tonnes on week.
Sections: The prices are expected to soften this week, as the mismatch between supply and demand continued to weigh on the prices. As of July 24, the Q235 150mm square billet price in North China’s Tangshan edged up by Yuan 50/tonne ($7.4/t) on week to Yuan 3,550/t EXW and 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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