Local Chinese semi-finished steel prices continue to move up

During the week ending August 14, Chinese domestic semi-finished steel prices have continued their uptrend, 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, the capacity utilization rate of blast furnaces in most regions has slightly decreased, resulting in tight supply of semi-finished steel in spot market. Following continuous rises in the local Chinese semi-finished steel market, most traders have started to maintain a wait-and-see stance to see the future trend of prices, exerting a negative impact on transaction activities. Meanwhile, the inventory levels of finished steel in China have recorded a slight increase, which will negatively impact on semi-finished steel purchases. As for coming week, semi-finished steel prices in China are expected to move sideways.

All prices are ex-warehouse and on actual weight basis and include 16 percent VAT.
 
$1 = RMB 6.88