China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) has announced that during last week (August 19-25) the overall average finished steel price in China edged down further on week-on-week basis. Bearish sentiment prevailed among market players due to decreasing iron ore prices, escalated Sino-US trade friction and slack demand from downstream users.
In the given week, the average prices of rebar, high-speed wire rod and steel channel moved down by 0.8 percent, 0.6 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, week on week.
Moreover, steel futures prices moved down significantly in the given week, reflecting bearish sentiments. Rebar futures (RB 2001) at the Shanghai Future Exchange came to RMB 3,269/mt ($463.2/mt) on Tuesday, August 27, down RMB 168/mt ($23.8/mt) from RMB 3,427/mt ($485.6/mt) or 4.9 percent from last Friday’s level.