According to data issued by China's Ministry of Commerce, last week (November 22-28) average steel prices in China rose by 0.4 percent from the previous week. In the period in question, market prices of 6.5 mm high speed wire rod and 12 mm rebar saw respective increases of 1.7 percent and 1.6 percent week on week. However, 145 x 2.5 mm hot rolled steel strip, 1 mm galvanized steel sheet and 1 mm cold rolled steel sheet prices were down 0.9 percent, 0.4 percent and 0.3 percent respectively as compared to the previous week.
On November 26, construction steel inventories in the Chinese domestic market had declined by 2.9 percent from the previous week and were down by 16.9 percent compared to the end of October. The MOC said it expects that steel prices will trend sideways in the coming period, with a slight uptrend expected in the construction steel market.