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China’s steel export prices weakened over September 14-18, their first decline since early May, as steel suppliers – especially traders – lowered their offers when domestic demand turned slack, Mysteel’s latest weekly survey has found. Export trading increased after the gap in prices between Chinese products and those of rivals closed, respondents said.
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Last week, billet stocks held by traders in Tangshan, China’s top steel producing city in North China’s Hebei province, declined for the first time since the end of June, though only by 3.5% on week, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey. Steel re-rollers in the city, the major consumers of the local billets, had largely resumed normal production after a ban restricting their production had been lifted from September 8.
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The prices of both rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC) in China’s physical market declined further over September 14-18, as the domestic steel production remained stable while the demand recovery was below the expectation, Mysteel Global noted.
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Steel stocks at Chinese traders’ warehouses declined further and faster over September 11-17, thanks to the firm end-user demand over the period, even though market sentiment stayed gloomy, Mysteel Global noted.
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The spot price of the high-carbon ferrochrome (FeCr) in North China’s Inner Mongolia stayed unchanged at Yuan 5,800/tonne ($853/t) including 13% VAT as of September 16 after three weeks of rises, as both the traders and stainless plants slowed down their paces of buying from the prior weeks, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly report.
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China’s steel export prices continued to rise over the past week and transaction volume grew, mainly due to the steadily narrowing price gap with the Chinese mill competitors in the international steel market, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey.
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The price of the Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan, North China’s Hebei province, slipped Yuan 80/tonne ($11.7/t) on week to Yuan 3,400/t EXW and including the 13% VAT as of September 11, as the billet stocks at the local traders hit a 5.5-month high by the end of the second week in September, Mysteel Global noted.
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China’s prices of rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC) reversed down over September 7-11, as the market optimism was dampened moderately on lower-than-expected actual demand, Mysteel Global noted.
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Steel futures prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) softened over the week of September 7-11 as market sentiment turned weaker. Steel consumption has failed to improve to the extent that the market had expected over the busy season over September-October, fuelling trepidation about future trends, Mysteel Global understands from industry sources.
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Chinese traders saw their stocks of the five major steel products remain generally stable over September 4-10, with the total down by a mere 3,400 tonnes on week, given the lower production, Mysteel Global noted. Actual demand remains static as well.
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The global steel market has shown signs of consistent recoveries in both demand and supply, with many major steelmakers in Vietnam, Japan, India and Europe gradually lifting their output and prices, and China’s steel exports offering prices, in tandem with the uptrend, rose too.
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The spot price of high-carbon ferrochrome (FeCr) in North China’s Inner Mongolia strengthened for the third straight week, though the latest on-week was only Yuan 25/tonne ($3.7/t) to Yuan 5,800/t including 13% VAT as of September 8, according to Mysteel’s assessment, which was underpinned by the better demand from the country’s stainless mills, according to market sources.
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The Tangshan Q235 150mm square billet price, the bellwether of China’s steel market, surged Yuan 70/tonne ($10.2/t) on week to Yuan 3,480/t EXW and including the 13% VAT as of September 4, as the market sentiment was buoyed by the recent frequent curbs on the local steel industry for pollution control, the local market sources shared.
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China’s domestic prices of both rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC) strengthened over August 31-September 4 on the signs of the continuing improvement in demand, though their stocks had been on the rise too on the remaining high production, Mysteel Global noted.
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Chinese traders saw the volume of steel stocks at hand rise further over August 28-September 3, even though demand showed some signs of recovery over the period and indications of optimistic sentiment emerged in the market, Mysteel Global noted.
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The spot price of high-carbon ferrochrome (FeCr) in North China’s Inner Mongolia inched up for the second week by another Yuan 25/tonne ($3.6/t) on week to Yuan 5,800/tonne including 13% VAT as of September 2, according to Mysteel’s assessment, which was mainly boosted by the better demand from the Chinese stainless plants, market sources shared.
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China’s steel mills raised their steel export offering prices by another $5-10/tonne last week, or at least two months in a row to reflect the appreciation of Yuan against the U.S. dollar, though their primary target of sales has stayed firmly at the domestic market, Mysteel Global understood from the market sources.
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Billet consumption in Tangshan, China’s top steel producing city in North China’s Hebei province, essentially halved last week due to a production ban on steel re-rollers in Tangshan’s Fengrun district, according to local industry sources. The ban took effect from August 19 and the re-rollers will probably only start resuming operations from September 2, Mysteel Global was told.
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China’s domestic prices of both rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC) declined over August 24-28, as the stocks at both the steel producers and traders had been building up, and demand had not significantly strengthened, Mysteel Global noted.
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Over August 21-27, finished steel inventories held by traders across China continued rising, as no encouraging signs were seen in demand though market expectations for sales in September stayed optimistic, Mysteel Global noted.
