Posted on 08 May 2024
Chinese prices of construction steel including rebar and wire rod will stay largely rangebound during May, Mysteel predicts in its latest monthly report. The likelihood is that prices will show downward corrections during the month due to rising output, the report suggests.
Last month, domestic prices of construction steel products had rebounded thanks to a marked pick-up in demand, leading steel market fundamentals to improve, according to the report.
For example, as of April 30 China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of the domestic steel market sentiment, had reversed up by Yuan 200/tonne ($27.7/t) from the end-March to reach Yuan 3,814/t and including the 13% VAT, Mysteel's assessment showed.
In April, construction steel output across the country rose – as market participants had expected – and blast-furnace makers contributed the most to the overall gain. By end-April, weekly output of rebars among the 137 Chinese steelmakers Mysteel canvasses averaged 2.22 million tonnes, rising by 123,100 tonnes on month though still down 614,400 tonnes on year, Mysteel's data indicates.
Meanwhile, weekly output of wire rod among the 92 mills under Mysteel's tracking came in at 874,100 tonnes by end-April, up 6,200 tonnes on month though down by 281,100 tonnes on year.
On the other hand, the destocking pressure of construction steel items greatly eased last month as consumption among end-users had recovered substantially. As of the end of April, the stocks of rebar and wire rod held by the 184 steelmakers and at trading warehouses in the 35 cities both under Mysteel's tracking declined by a large 3.6 million tonnes from the previous month to 11.2 million tonnes.
The report also pointed out that both spot trading and speculative buying activities had become robust during April, with spot sales of construction steel witnessing a large on-week increase. The daily trading volume of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses Mysteel follows averaged 151,316 tonnes/day last month, jumping by 24.2% on month.
Source:Mysteel Global
