According to monitoring, in the recent week, the domestic steel spot market continued to operate weakly, and the decline in the ex-factory prices of steel mills caused business confidence to suffer another blow, and prices continued to fall. In the latter part of the week, after a few days of adjustment, the business will not fall, and the market will gradually stabilize.
Related analysts believe that there are reports that the Japanese and South Korean steel mills have accepted iron ore giants' quarterly ore price increases of 23% to 26%. This FOB price is estimated at around US$140/ton. The current spot-to-shore ore price has dropped to less than US$130 per ton. In general, large domestic steel mills will not completely turn to the spot market to purchase ore. This means that, reflecting the cost per ton of steel, there is a “drop†in cost of about 260 yuan between the quarterly price of ore and the spot price. Although the profitability of the domestic steel industry in the first half of this year showed a certain increase compared with the same period of last year, the industry expectation was not optimistic in the hope of shifting the cost pressure to the downstream in the third quarter. The recently introduced August factory prices of large and medium-sized iron and steel enterprises such as Baosteel and Anshan Iron and Steel Company all reduced the prices of various products ranging from 200 yuan to 500 yuan per ton. It is estimated that the current situation of reduced production and maintenance that has already occurred in the industry will have to gradually expand during the later period.
According to the analysis, the prices of wire rods and rebars in the country are still mainly falling, but the decline has been slower than before. The decline in the mainstream is between 20 and 70 yuan per ton, and the individual market is over 100 yuan. There is also a steady rise in the market. . However, the market mentality is still cautious, and the effect of steel mill overhauls and reductions in some regions has begun to appear.
The domestic hot-rolled coil market generally shows a weak downward trend. The East China market is still subject to the pressure of resources and demand, with a large drop. The overall performance of the northern market was stable and was boosted by the rebound in the price of blanks. Prices in individual markets rose slightly. In the latest monthly prices of Baosteel, Wuhan Iron and Steel and Anshan Iron and Steel, the price of hot-rolled tonnage was reduced by 200 yuan to 350 yuan, indicating that the mainstream steel mills' expectations for the latter-stage market are still biased towards weaknesses, and the downstream demand is difficult to release on a temporary basis. Market prices still have further downward trend.
The domestic cold-rolling market slowed down to a low level and the transaction was generally satisfactory. In the latest monthly prices of Baosteel, Anshan Iron and Steel and Wuhan Iron and Steel, the cold-rolled tonnage price fell between 300 yuan and 450 yuan. According to incomplete statistics, the current cold-rolled inventory of major cities in the country is 1.37525 million tons, an increase of 13.02 million tons. There are more new resources in the lead market and lower prices are more active. The price of cold coils may be close to the bottom. However, due to the delay in supply, the market will continue to maintain its weak operation.
Market participants believe that the recently announced "Code for the Production and Operation of the Iron and Steel Industry" has made a series of regulations concerning environmental protection, energy consumption, and production scale of steel companies in order to promote the standardized management of the steel industry. At present, under the circumstances that market adjustments are still continuing, policy adjustments for the steel industry are also strengthening. This may cause some small steel mills to voluntarily withdraw from the industry and the integration of the steel industry will accelerate. At present, the steel prices have gradually approached the bottom range, steel mills have overhauled, and various market factors are intertwined. The next step of the market needs close observation.