Local Chinese semi-finished steel prices indicate diverse trends again

During the week ending July 23, Chinese domestic semi-finished steel prices have indicated diverse trends, with slight upticks and sideways movements in certain markets and with billet prices in Jiangsu Province and slab prices in Tangshan declining, 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 hot weather in China has resulting in lower outputs of semi-finished steel. However, ferrous metal futures prices in China have edged down, exerting a negative impact on the semi-finished steel market. At the same time, due to high costs of raw materials, some finished steel producers have implemented maintenance works, resulting in lower demand for semi-finished steel. It is expected that semi-finished steel prices in the Chinese domestic market will edge down slightly in the coming week.

All prices are ex-warehouse and on actual weight basis and include 13 percent VAT.

$1 = RMB 6.88