Week 29 has been a weak appendage of previous week with the domestic levels acquiring maintaining an upward momentum albeit at a smoother gradient. Noticeably the prices have not corrected despite obvious reticence. The incipient strength in the market seems set to keep the levels afloat.
Near 1% improvement in long product prices has been led by across the region increase in construction activities led by rural and semi urban, urbanization.
Domestic construction steel market kept moving up this week. By region, East China increased by CNY 20 per tonne to CNY 30 per tonne Wow, Mid China was up by CNY 30 per tonne to CNY 40 per tonne, South China jumped by CNY 20 per tonne to CNY 30 per tonne, SW China down by CNY 10 per tonne to CNY 30 per tonne and North China increased by CNY 10 per tonne to CNY 20 per tonne.
The flat product market though playing second fiddle has kept flickering with demand from the construction sector. At the same time the core consumption segments of auto and white goods industry has been languishing after the withdrawal of tax rebates. It is widely expected that
HRC market prices posted small range vibration this week, without any notable changes in down stream demand. Traders remained ambiguous about the future market. While some mills viz., Rizhao Steel and Liuzhou Steel announced to lift HRC prices by CNY 30 per tonne, while Angang opted for caution by reducing Aug HRC future prices.
Even though there was lack of abundant transactions the market kept chugging on at an even pace. Most of the major producers have increased the July prices signaling the despondency.
( Source: www.steelguru.com )