What to expect in the Chinese steel market?

Foreign sources evaluated the Chinese steel market. What happened last week? What to expect this week? Here are the details:

Rebar and wire rod
Prices for these long products are expected to remain in a narrow range on December 20-24, as most construction sites in southern China continue their normal operations and mills' supplies of construction steel will remain largely stable.

Steel traders tended to sell their inventories to minimize risks, in anticipation of further declines in rebar prices. By December 16, rebar stocks in commercial warehouses decreased another 5% to 5.5 million tons for the 10th week.

hot rolled coil
In the week ending December 24, steel prices declined as most end users procure only to meet urgent demand and traders are willing to sell some inventories to mitigate risks as HRC inventories are at commercial levels. Warehouses in China reversed their one-week increase as of December 16, falling 2.9 percent week on week to 3.1 million tons.

cold rolled coil

Amid steady demand from end-users, the price may rise this week as supply from steelmakers is expected to decline amid maintenance outages and the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in parts of China.

medium thickness plate
The price is expected to soften on December 20-24 as most traders are feeling a bearish sentiment mainly due to lukewarm trading in the spot market.

Billet
As of December 19, 1.5-month high of RMB 4,400/t ($690.4/t) including VAT, EXW increased RMB 90/tonne week. Most mills tend to fix their ex-factory prices on higher production costs and the price of Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan, northern China's Hebei province is expected to rise in the week ending December 24.