China’s MOC expects domestic steel prices to stabilize in short term

On February 23, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) stated that average steel prices in the country recorded a 1.1 percent increase last week (February 14-20), compared with the previous week.
 
However, the MOC also said that domestic steel prices will probably switch from an uptrend to a sideways trend in the short term as the inventory figures for steel products indicate a week-on-week growth as high as 9.1 percent.
 
In addition, average coke prices in China last week rose by 2.1 percent week on week, mainly due to the recovery in demand from steelmakers as the weather gets better and as construction activity increases. On the back of rising coking coal costs, coke prices in China are expected to continue to climb up in the near term, the MOC said.