Below is the brief near-term outlook for 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: Prices of these longs may grow over February 13-17, as many mills have firmed their offering prices on high production costs, and market sentiment among traders have improved on support of stimulus policies from the central government.
Besides, steel mills’ low output has also lent some support to the prices. Rebar output at 137 Chinese steelmakers under Mysteel’s tracking hovered low at 2.5 million tonnes as of February 8, despite an on-week growth of 4.8%.
Hot-rolled coil: This price may be narrowly-rangebound in the week ending February 17, as many end-users have been cautious about buying HRCs, while most traders have been unwilling to place speculative orders.
Cold-rolled coil: The price may fluctuate in a small range this week, as many traders have a tendency to sell off some stocks to maintain sufficient cash flow, while many end-users have procured only to meet their immediate demand.
The total CRC stocks at 182 warehouses in 29 Chinese cities Mysteel tracks edged up by 1.3% on week to 2.3 million tonnes as of February 9.
Medium plate: The price may remain largely stable this week, as trading activities in the spot sales market have been more active compared with the previous week, which gave a boost to the market sentiment.
As of February 9, the total plate stocks at 217 warehouses in 65 Chinese cities under Mysteel’s tracking recorded 2.8 million tonnes, growing by 1.9% on week, mainly due to high production from mills.
Sections: Prices may lose some steam this week, as stocks of traders are likely to mount due to dull demand from end-users.
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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