Chinese domestic semi-finished steel market starts to face downward pressure

As of August 15, Chinese domestic semi-finished steel prices have increased on week-on-week basis in most regions, though remaining stable week on week in Tangshan, while transaction activity in the market has been at low-to-medium levels. Average prices of steel billet and slab in the local Chinese market are presented in the following table.

During the given week, following the blast furnace output cuts for the coming winter season announced by the authorities in Hebei Province, semi-finished steel prices in China continued to move up first while they later declined as downstream users became cautious about concluding purchases, with transaction activity slackening. Meanwhile, towards the end of last week the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) held a meeting to discuss the rapid rises seen in domestic finished steel prices, while Shanghai Futures Exchange increased trading fees for rebar contracts bought and sold on the same trading day, with these developments negatively affecting the steel markets. Ferrous metals futures prices in China have softened during recent trading days. It is thought that semi-finished steel prices in the Chinese domestic market will likely move down in the coming week.

All prices are ex-warehouse and on actual weight basis and include 17 percent VAT.
 
$1 = RMB 6.68