Posted on 12 May 2022
Shagang Group (Shagang), China's largest privately-owned steelmaker and a leading rebar producer headquartered in East China's Jiangsu province, has decided to keep list prices of its major long steel products unchanged over May 11-20, according to its latest pricing policy released on May 11. The steel giant's price statement covers rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil. The list prices of its longs have now been rolled over for three successive ten-day cycles, Mysteel Global notes.
With the latest price roll-over, Shagang's HRB400 16-25mm rebar is still priced at Yuan 5,350/tonne ($796/t), its HPB300 6-10mm high-speed wire rod at Yuan 5,310/t, and HRB400 8-10mm bar-in-coil at Yuan 5,400/t, all in terms of EXW and including the 13% VAT.
"The (COVID-19) pandemic has been pressing on steel demand, leading to the slow-down in spot sales. In addition, as the rainy season in East and South China is coming, bouts of rain may cause disruptions to outdoor construction activities, and weak demand from end-users may continue for a while," a market source from East China said.
China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar dropped for the fourth working day on May 10 to reach a 1.5-month low of Yuan 4,969/t including the 13% VAT, or down Yuan 51/t on day, according to Mysteel's assessment.
With the margins that steelmakers are earning on selling rebar thinning amid the recent slump in steel prices, most are trying to cut costs, Mysteel Global notes. On Tuesday, Shagang – also the country's leading electric-arc-furnace mill – announced that it was lowering its steel scrap procurement prices by Yuan 50/t, as reported. Currently, Shagang is paying Yuan 3,970-4,030/t for HMS grade scrap including delivery and the 13% VAT.
So far this month, the daily trading volume of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 steel traders Mysteel tracks nationwide has averaged 153,083 tonnes/day, plunging 49.7% on year.
Shagang's premiums for other long products over May 11-20 | |
Specification | Premium |
HRB400 10mm dia rebar | Yuan 160/t |
HRB400 12mm dia rebar | Yuan 100/t |
HRB400 14mm dia rebar | Yuan 30/t |
HRB400 28-32mm dia rebar | Yuan 60/t |
HRB400 36mm/40mm dia rebar | Yuan 250/t |
HRB500 14-25mm | Yuan 300/t on top of HRB400 base prices |
HRB400 6mm dia bar-in-coil | Yuan 300/t |
Anti-seismic rebar | Yuan 30/t |
Source:Mysteel Global
