Steel Market Prices Changes

International Steel Market

As steel prices in Asia continued to rise in the previous two weeks, global steel prices showed a comprehensive rise. Leading steel mills in major steel-producing countries, including Japan, Europe, North America, China, and Turkey, have announced a new round of increases. Because the price of raw materials has risen basically and become the main factor in boosting the price of finished steel, and the demand in most areas has not risen significantly, the profit pressure of steel mills is still relatively severe. However, with the overall trend of growth, the pace of international trade has increased slightly, and the steel market has begun to be active.

Chinese Steel FOB Price (Unit: USD/ton)
Item	Port	Price
HR Coil (SS400)	Tianjin Port	565
CR Coil (SPCC)	Tianjin Port	648
HDG (DX51D)	Tianjin Port	720
Medium-thick sheet(SS400B)	Tianjin Port	570
Rebar (B500B)	Zhangjiagang	558

Overview of China’s Exports

Hot rolled coil exports: China’s hot coil further consolidated the upward trend, superposition the strong price of RMB, the price of low-cost resources in the market rose significantly, compared with the rise of more than 20 US dollars/ton, although the official price of leading steel mills hot rolled steel coil rose at 5-10 US dollars/ton. The price of SS400 hot rolled steel coil announced by several large steel mills in Northeast and North China at the beginning of this week is 575-580 US dollars/ton FOB, while the offer price of North China Advantage Q195 resources for Southeast Asia rose from 555 US dollars/ton CFR Vietnam at the beginning of the week to 565-570 US dollars/ton CFR. A36 FOB price is around $565 / ton FOB. As the price differentiation of different resources narrowed, the comprehensive export price increased significantly. Although most buyers are still on the sidelines of this round of gains, the overall buying has followed up, and the transaction situation is slightly better than last week. At present, the shipping schedule is mainly in January, and some steel mills have begun to receive orders for the shipping schedule in February.

Medium and thick sheet exports: With the appreciation of the renminbi and the overall upward price level of sheet metal, the price of the medium board has also risen, but the increase is significantly less than the hot-rolled coil, the increase of different port resources is 5-10 US dollars/ton, the transaction level of the Northeast leading steel mill is about 560-570 US dollars/ton FOB, and the transaction level of North China advantageous private resources is as low as 545-550 US dollars/ton FOB. The recent increase of the board is low compared to the hot coil, and partly due to a slight reduction in the supply side, the superimposed price increase of raw materials is similar, and the factory efficiency is still not good. At present, the main delivery date of mid-board exports entered February, and the transaction this week was slightly improved from last week.

Rebar: Recently, the offshore guide price of rebar, which does not have an export advantage, continues to rise, and export activities are cold, South China, and East China steel mills this week offer about 555-565 US dollars/ton FOB weight, and Vietnam’s similar resources for Hong Kong, China’s weighing offer is 555-560 US dollars/ton CFR weighing. Singapore importer’s feedback, the current procurement demand is normal, mainly in Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Middle East resources, and land prices are at 550-555 US dollars/ton CFR. In contrast, China’s resource price advantage is nearly no, and the export order of January shipment date continues to be weak.