Chinese steel prices subside on worries over slower demand
by David Fleschen
Chinese steel futures dropped for a third consecutive session on Tuesday on concerns that slower demand will persist next year, with prices of steelmaking raw materials coking coal and coke retreating, as the news agency Reuters reports.
Underlining weaker consumption, leading steelmaker Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd said on Monday it would cut prices of its key products for January delivery. Wuhan Iron and Steel Co also lowered its January prices. The price of construction-used rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed down 0.5 percent at 3,327 yuan ($484) a tonne. <iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/4735792/us.reuters/world/china/article_4" title="3rd party ad content" name="google_ads_iframe_/4735792/us.reuters/world/china/article_4" width="1" height="1" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" data-gtm-yt-inspected-341207_491="true" data-google-container-id="9" data-load-complete="true" data-integralas-id-378a89e5-bf24-f074-ef52-0d2c5deb3f67=""></iframe>Hot-rolled coil, used in manufacturing, slipped 0.1 percent to 3,309 yuan.
Citing weaker car sales and lacklustre growth in infrastructure investment, Argonaut Securities analyst Helen Lau told Reuters she expects Chinese steel demand to slow down in 2019. If China’s steel exports remain weak, “that will increase the risks of oversupply in the domestic market,” she said.