According to business forecast released on June 6 by Ministry of Commerce, domestic steel prices have dropped 3 consecutive weeks due to the demand decrease for construction steel products in summer as well as the stable growth of steel output.
Steel prices dipped 0.4% last week (from June 27 to July 3) from the week before with that of 0.5mm non oriented silicon steel sheets, 10mm medium plate and 8# channel steel down by 1.8%, 1% and 0.9% respectively.
The hot and rainy weather in summer leads to the decline of purchases from construction enterprises. As a result, the inventory of construction steel eyes increases. Investigation shows that the inventory of construction steel in China 29 key cities reached 6.85 million tonnes last week, slightly up by 16,000 tonnes from the week before the first positive growth since mid March.
Moreover, steel mills like Shagang have cut their EXW prices for July delivery and it is expected that steel prices may continue narrow falls in the short run.
( Source: www.steelguru.com )