Posted on 02 Jun 2022
Shagang Group, China's largest rebar producer headquartered in East China's Jiangsu province, announced on Wednesday that it is rolling over its rebar list price for sales over June 1-10, having kept list prices unchanged for five straight sales periods since late April, Mysteel Global noted.
For this month's first ten days, Shagang will also hold ex-works prices of its high-speed wire rod and bar-in-coil products, according to the company's release.
With the latest pricing policy for early June, Shagang's HRB400 16-25mm rebar will still be offered at Yuan 5,350/tonne ($802/t), its HPB300 6-10mm high-speed wire rod will stay priced at Yuan 5,310/t, and the HRB400 8-10mm bar-in-coil price will remain at Yuan 5,400/t, all including the 13% VAT.
Shagang's decision to roll-over prices surprised some market watchers, as domestic steel demand remained lackluster in the last eleven days of May. According to Mysteel's data, the daily trading volume of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among traders in East China for example, averaged 76,651 tonnes/day for late May, down 1.4% from the previous ten-day period or 19.4% lower on year.
On the other hand, a market source noted that "as the current (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak has waned, market sentiment has been boosted to some extent, and finished steel prices had rebounded recently." This followed the lifting of the city-wide lockdown in Shanghai, and the introduction of measures by the central government to stabilize the economy, including cuts to purchase taxes on passenger vehicles, she noted.
Life in Shanghai, the country's financial hub, began returning to normal from June 1 after the city managed to bring its current COVID-19 wave, its worst in two years, under control, Mysteel Global notes.
As of May 31, the HRB400E 20mm dia rebar price in Nanjing, the capital city of Jiangsu, was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 4,900/t and including the 13% VAT, rising for three working days by a total of Yuan 60/t.
Source:Mysteel Global
