During the week ending July 19, wire rod prices have trended slightly upwards in Chinese domestic long steel market, while rebar have prices indicated a certain degree of softness. In certain regions of China, as the weather gets better, longs demand has recovered to some extent, with the declining price trend coming to an end in some regions. As of July 15, the average longs prices in the main Chinese cities are as follows:
Product name | Specification | Category | Average price (RMB/mt) | Price ($/mt) | Weekly change ($/mt) |
6.5 mm | Q235 | 3,893 | 575 | +1 | |
20 mm | HRB 335 | 3,807 | 562 | -1 | |
20 mm | HRB 400 | 3,960 | 585 | - |
In China's three main steel markets, i.e., Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, the prices of Q235 grade 6.5 mm size high speed wire rod now respectively stand at RMB 3,840/mt ($567/mt), RMB 3,860/mt ($570/mt) and RMB 3,980/mt ($588/mt), with HRB 335 grade 20 mm rebar prices respectively at RMB 3,600/mt ($532/mt), RMB 3,870/mt ($572/mt) and RMB 3,950/mt ($583/mt). Meanwhile, HRB 400 grade 20 mm rebar is priced at RMB 3,640/mt ($538/mt), RMB 3,970/mt ($586/mt) and RMB 4,270/mt ($631/mt) in the above respective markets. All prices are ex-mill and include 17 percent VAT.
In the first half of the week under review, the Chinese domestic longs market was on the way down. However, during the second half of the week, longs prices trended stable for one or two days and then rebounded up towards the end of the week. This increase, observed after a long-standing period of decline, has calmed the nerves of market players. However, it is still difficult to predict the future trend of long steel prices in the Chinese market. On the inventory side, while there has been a minor increase in wire rod inventories, rebar inventory has slipped down further.
In the northern China market, long steel prices have registered slight decreases during the week in question; meanwhile, in the southern China market, prices have turned around and entered an upward trend.
Current market prices are in the vicinity of the mills' costs. Thus, some mills have chosen to increase their offer levels. In Tangshan, some small mills have further curbed production given the decreases already seen in prices.