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Lacklustre demand from overseas buyers led prices of Chinese steel exports to continue softening over the past week, though the rate of decrease was much slower compared with the prior week, Mysteel Global learned.
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Chinese steel prices of both rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC) trended downwards in both spot and futures markets over May 9-13, partly due to the softening in steelmaking raw material prices and the cautious near-term market sentiment, Mysteel Global noted.
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China's domestic steel prices including both rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC) moved up on May 5, the first working day after the Labour Day holiday, before making downward corrections in the following couple of days. Last week, the market sentiment was generally optimistic on the anticipation of better steel demand with the easing of COVID-related controls, Mysteel Global noted.
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Chinese steel export prices were largely stable both during and after the Labour Day holiday of April 30-May 4, market sources said, pointing out that export sales were rather quiet.
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China's domestic steel prices of rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC) weakened over April 25-29, mainly due to the decline in raw material prices and slower-than-expected improvement in demand ahead of China's Labour Day holiday over April 30-May 4, Mysteel Global noted.
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China's steel export prices have declined faster over the past week amid poorer sales, both at home and abroad, and the weakening Chinese Yuan against the US dollar. Overseas buyers held back buying, expecting prices to fall further in the near term, according to Mysteel's latest weekly report.
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China's steel prices of both rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC) stayed rangebound over April 18-22, showing signs of divergence in the spot market, and their futures prices headed south on week. In addition, the market sentiment turned cautious later last week with softening spot trading and subsiding raw material prices, Mysteel Global noted.
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China's steel export prices continued to shrink this week as global demand weakened. In the meantime, Russian suppliers have been trying to tempt global steel buyers with low-priced products, imposing downward pressure on international steel markets, according to Mysteel's tracking.
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The gross profits on billet sales being earned by integrated steel mills in Tangshan, China's top steel production city and billet supply base, averaged only Yuan 17/tonne ($2.6/t) as of April 18, the lowest since early November 2021, according to Mysteel's survey across ten steel producers in the city.
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Over April 11-15, China's steel prices in both spot and futures markets stayed range-bound, and macro-policies were introduced to stabilize raw material prices, while domestic steel demand remained lukewarm, Mysteel Global noted.
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Over April 8-14, total inventories of the five major finished steel products held by the Chinese trading houses in 132 cities under Mysteel's tracking reached a two-month low after decreasing for six consecutive weeks, according to Mysteel's latest weekly stocks survey.
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Chinese steel export sales weakened slightly during the recent week, with overseas buyers showing more resistance to the current prices, anticipating that these will drop further, market sources indicated on April 13.
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Tangshan city's gradual relaxation of COVID-19 lockdowns across all districts under its jurisdiction by April 8 has enabled the supply, delivery and trading of billet to resume, though the slower resumption of operations among steel re-rollers limited the buying, causing billet prices to fall, according to Mysteel's weekly survey. Tangshan is the top steel-producing city in North China's Hebei province.
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As of April 8, China's domestic steel prices including both rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC) had increased further on week in the spot market though at a slower pace, while steel demand had waned slightly, Mysteel Global noted.
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Over April 1-7, finished steel inventories at Chinese trading warehouses under Mysteel's tracking declined for the fifth straight week, despite down by a small 7,100 tonnes. Stocks of rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and medium plate among the surveyed traders in the 132 Chinese cities totaled 26.37 million tonnes as of April 7.
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Export trading of Chinese steel remained generally stable and active over the past two weeks after the buying spree witnessed in early March. Chinese steel prices are still the lowest in the global steel market, a market source explained.
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The Tangshan Q235 150mm square billet price, the weathervane of Chinese steel market sentiment, hit a new high for the year so far of Yuan 4,860/tonne ($764.2/t) EXW and including the 13% VAT as of April 1, according to Mysteel's assessment, after climbing by another Yuan 60/t on week. The price had gained mainly on expectations of more active trading following the city's successful containment of the COVID-19 resurgence.
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Over March 28-April 2, China's prices of rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC) continued trending upwards, in tandem with the inclines in steelmaking raw material prices, Mysteel Global noted. April 2 is a substitute working day in China for the Qingming Festival national holiday over April 3-5.
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China's exports of both semi-finished and finished steel remained high last week, though trading had already cooled from the first week of this month. Chinese steel prices are still among the lowest in the global market, the factor delivering the boost to export business, according to Mysteel's weekly report.
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The Q235 150mm square billet price in North China's Tangshan, the country's largest steel production city, strengthened to nearly a five-month high of Yuan 4,800/tonne ($753.5/t) EXW and including the 13% VAT as of March 25, as billet suppliers were bullish about demand going forward, even though at the moment, consumption is almost stagnated.
