Posted on 12 Sep 2024
China's construction steel demand is expected to recover slightly this month, mainly thanks to the milder autumn weather and the improved financial health of domestic contractors, according to Mysteel's latest survey released on Wednesday.
The prediction was mainly based on domestic end-users' actual procurement volume of construction steel last month and their purchase plans for September.
Mysteel's survey, which sampled more than 200 construction enterprises nationwide under its tracking, showed that their actual steel procurement in August reached 5.99 million tonnes, lower by another 1.2% from the previous month, while their planned buying volume for September may reach 6.59 million tonnes, up by 10% on month.
Some end-users may return to the market for replenishment to fulfil their needs before the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday over September 15-17 and the National Day holiday over October 1-7, industry watchers suggested. This may boost domestic steel demand to some extent, Mysteel Global learned, though the on-month recovery is likely to be limited.
Construction steel demand for this month may stay at relatively low level compared with the same period last year, as users are cautious about building up stocks given the uncertainty of China's steel market in the coming term.
Construction steel sales in the country's physical market have not shown any significant improvement so far this month. For the first 10 days of September, the daily trading volume of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 Chinese trading houses under Mysteel's regular survey averaged 106,688 tonnes/day, still lower than the average of 110,898 t/d for August.
Meanwhile, China's construction steel prices have been hovering at a low level, with the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of domestic steel-market sentiment under Mysteel's assessment, sitting at Yuan 3,265/tonne ($459/t) including the 13% VAT as of September 10, lower by Yuan 72/t from the end of August.
Source:Mysteel Global
