Near-term outlook on China's key steel products

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 market participants.

Rebar & wire rod: The prices of these longs may spiral down over April 12-16, as the traders have shown tendency of selling off some stocks when prices are relatively high to secure profits. Rebar stocks in the commercial warehouses in China’s 132 cities did decline for the fifth week as of April 8, down another 4.7% on week to 15.6 million tonnes.

Hot-rolled coil: The price may be rangebound in the week ending April 16, mainly on the support of steady demand from the end-users, and as of April 8, HRC stocks in China’s 55 cities fell for the fifth week too, dipping by 4.1% on week to 3.7 million tonnes.

Cold-rolled coil: The price is likely to inch down in the week to April 16, as demand from end-users like automakers has started feeling the impact on their output by the shortage of auto chips.

Medium plate: The price may inch up over April 12-16, as production costs have been hovering high.

Sections: The price is forecast to fluctuate in the week ending April 16, as most traders have taken on a cautious stance on high-priced cargoes, and the support from billet may ease as the price of the Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan, North China’s Hebei province, dipped by Yuan 50/tonne ($7.6/t) on week to Yuan 4,970/t as of April 11.

Written by Yi Xia, xiayi@mysteel.com

This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.