Posted on 22 May 2024
Shagang Group (Shagang), China's leading privately-owned steelmaker based in East China's Jiangsu province, is keeping the list prices of its major long steel products including rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil unchanged for May 21-31 sales, after having lifted the prices for the prior sales cycle, the company announced on Tuesday.
The mill's latest pricing policy means that Shagang's HRB400 16-20mm rebar is still priced at Yuan 4,020/tonne ($556/t) in late May, while its HPB300 6-10mm high-speed wire rod and HRB400 8-10mm bar-in-coil remain at Yuan 3,970/t and Yuan 4,060/t respectively, all in terms of EXW and including the 13% VAT.
The steel giant's decision to roll over its list prices reflects its near-term cautious stance towards domestic long steel demand from end-users as the hot weather gradually becomes less pleasant for construction activities. The company's hesitant approach is also despite the rebound in steel prices in both the spot and futures markets of late.
Mysteel's survey of spot steel sales among the 237 trading houses across China it monitors regularly showed that their trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil averaged 136,014 tonnes/day in mid-May, lower by 1.5% than the previous ten days.
During mid-May, rebar prices in China's physical market initially trended downwards and then bounced back, Mysteel Global notes. The rebound in prices was mainly fuelled by resilient raw materials prices and a slew of stimulus measures from Beijing to boost the beleaguered housing market.
As of May 20, the country's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, for example, was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 3,872/t including the 13% VAT, rising by Yuan 46/t from May 10. Meanwhile, Mysteel's iron ore index for Australian Fines, SEADEX 62%, grew by $2.6/dmt during the same period to $118.8/dmt CFR Qingdao.
Source:Mysteel Global
