WEEKLY SUMMARY: China's major steel prices diverge

China's prices of major steel products, including rebar, square billet and hot-rolled coil (HRC), diverged during January 12-16, with those of rebar and HRC rising while that of billet edging down.

Rebar: As of January 16, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 3,351/tonne ($481/t) including the 13% VAT, higher by Yuan 14/t from one week before and notching a 4.5-month high. Sentiment in the spot market improved in tandem with the firmer performance of