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 the week of August 3-7, with those of rebar and HRC weakening further amid thin demand from end-users, while the prices of billet recovered slightly thanks to the replenishment of downstream re-rollers.

Rebar: As of August 7, China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel's assessment came in at Yuan 3,224/tonne ($478/t) including the 13% VAT, down by Yuan 10/t from one week before. Rebar futures prices also remained weak overall, with the most-traded contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for