Chinese section steel market slow
2024-04-26 08:33:53 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 26 Apr 24 - After the active purchase in the past two weeks, downstream clients hold back from purchasing this week, leading to the inactive section steel market. Presently, the prevailing prices of angle steel Q235 50mm*50mm*5mm stand at RMB3,850/t (USD531/t), RMB3,920/t (USD541/t) and RMB4,020/t (USD555/t) D/P respectively in Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou, similar to early this week. Insiders foresee slight price decline in the following several days.
A trader in Tianjin reports a dim market. "End users show little intention in enlarging purchasing this week, while they would build stocks for the consumption during the May Day holiday (May 1-5) in the corresponding period of past years traditionally. After tough negotiations, we just sold 50t of angle steel Q235 50mm*50mm*5mm at RMB3,850/t (USD531/t) on Thursday, while sold 200t a day early last week when prices showed spirally upward trend," noted the trader. According to him, downstream plants maintain low operating rates dragged by the insufficient orders for final products, and thus remain inactive in purchasing section steel. Besides, more and more clients face rising capital pressures. The trader adopts pessimistic attitude towards the market prospect seeing the soft demand, and deems prices of section steel would go down slightly in the forthcoming several days.
Holding around 3,000t in stock, the trader might sell approximately 5,000t of section steel in April, up from 3,000t in March. Based on the typical monthly sales volume of 7,000t, he roughly sold 10,000t of section steel in the first quarter of 2024.
"The market performance weakens this week compared with last week, amid narrow price changes, while prices rose spirally in the past week," disclosed a trader in Shanghai. "Construction projects run in low operating rates due to the capital shortage. Reporting insufficient orders, processing plants keep inactive in production," added the trader, who sold 300t of angle steel Q235 50mm*50mm*5mm at RMB3,920/t (USD541/t) on Thursday, while sold about 400t a day last week. According to him, prices of steel billet and those of section steel from steel mills go through the down-up trend this week, and current prices remain almost unchanged compared with late last week. Believing prices of section steel hard to go up, end users refuse to put more money on materials. The trader predicts slight price decrease of section steel in the upcoming several days upon the slow market.
Adopting pessimistic attitude towards the market prospect, the trader remains reluctant to supplement inventories, and he just holds around 8,000t in stock right now, down from 10,000t in early April. With the regular monthly sales volume of 12,000t, the trader might sell 10,000t in April, up from 9,000t in March. He recorded the sales volume of more or less 21,000t in the first three months of 2024.
Discouraged by the poor sales performance, a trader in Guangzhou keeps cautious about replenishing inventories at present. He just holds 7,000t in stock, down from 10,000t in the middle of March. According to him, the heavy rains force the operation of construction projects to slow down. In addition, shrinking export orders of final products make the demand for section steel reduce. "The rainy season comes earlier this year than past years. The market remains quiet, and there are few trucks the whole day," sighed the trader, who just sold 400t of angle steel Q235 50mm*50mm*5mm at RMB4,020/t (USD555/t) on Thursday, while sold 600-700t a day early this month. He believes prices of section steel would decline in the coming several days.
With the typical monthly sales volume of 14,000t, the trader predicts to sell 9,000t of section steel in April, down from 10,000t in March. He roughly sold 140,000t in 2023 and 25,000t in the first quarter of 2024.
A trader in Tianjin reports a dim market. "End users show little intention in enlarging purchasing this week, while they would build stocks for the consumption during the May Day holiday (May 1-5) in the corresponding period of past years traditionally. After tough negotiations, we just sold 50t of angle steel Q235 50mm*50mm*5mm at RMB3,850/t (USD531/t) on Thursday, while sold 200t a day early last week when prices showed spirally upward trend," noted the trader. According to him, downstream plants maintain low operating rates dragged by the insufficient orders for final products, and thus remain inactive in purchasing section steel. Besides, more and more clients face rising capital pressures. The trader adopts pessimistic attitude towards the market prospect seeing the soft demand, and deems prices of section steel would go down slightly in the forthcoming several days.
Holding around 3,000t in stock, the trader might sell approximately 5,000t of section steel in April, up from 3,000t in March. Based on the typical monthly sales volume of 7,000t, he roughly sold 10,000t of section steel in the first quarter of 2024.
"The market performance weakens this week compared with last week, amid narrow price changes, while prices rose spirally in the past week," disclosed a trader in Shanghai. "Construction projects run in low operating rates due to the capital shortage. Reporting insufficient orders, processing plants keep inactive in production," added the trader, who sold 300t of angle steel Q235 50mm*50mm*5mm at RMB3,920/t (USD541/t) on Thursday, while sold about 400t a day last week. According to him, prices of steel billet and those of section steel from steel mills go through the down-up trend this week, and current prices remain almost unchanged compared with late last week. Believing prices of section steel hard to go up, end users refuse to put more money on materials. The trader predicts slight price decrease of section steel in the upcoming several days upon the slow market.
Adopting pessimistic attitude towards the market prospect, the trader remains reluctant to supplement inventories, and he just holds around 8,000t in stock right now, down from 10,000t in early April. With the regular monthly sales volume of 12,000t, the trader might sell 10,000t in April, up from 9,000t in March. He recorded the sales volume of more or less 21,000t in the first three months of 2024.
Discouraged by the poor sales performance, a trader in Guangzhou keeps cautious about replenishing inventories at present. He just holds 7,000t in stock, down from 10,000t in the middle of March. According to him, the heavy rains force the operation of construction projects to slow down. In addition, shrinking export orders of final products make the demand for section steel reduce. "The rainy season comes earlier this year than past years. The market remains quiet, and there are few trucks the whole day," sighed the trader, who just sold 400t of angle steel Q235 50mm*50mm*5mm at RMB4,020/t (USD555/t) on Thursday, while sold 600-700t a day early this month. He believes prices of section steel would decline in the coming several days.
With the typical monthly sales volume of 14,000t, the trader predicts to sell 9,000t of section steel in April, down from 10,000t in March. He roughly sold 140,000t in 2023 and 25,000t in the first quarter of 2024.
