May 28, 2024
Steel prices in the global steel market were mixed this week. In terms of semi-finished products, due to the favorable macroeconomic impact, China's steel billet export quotation increased slightly by US$5 compared with last week. Mainstream billet quotations in Southeast Asia are generally stable but weak. Among them, Vietnam's billet quotations slightly dropped by about US$5 due to sluggish demand; Indonesia's quotation for billet with a specification of 3sp is US$505/ton FOB, which remains unchanged on a week-on-week basis. Russian slabs remained stable, and the price of billet exported to Türkiye fell slightly by about US$5-10 compared with last week. Affected by weak demand for finished products, Iran's billet and slab prices remained unchanged from last week.
In terms of long products, due to the continued positive macroeconomic conditions, spot prices have risen. China's domestic trade and exports have generally risen this week, with export quotations rising slightly by about US$5. Asian long product prices remained stable, and overall transaction performance was average. Malaysian rebar quotations are at US$540/ton DAP Singapore, which is unchanged week-on-week. Vietnam's long steel export quotations and domestic trade prices have remained stable.
In terms of plates, the quotations of imported hot coils from Vietnam showed an upward trend this week, with the price of SAE1006 (3mm) reaching US$565/ton; the overall performance of medium plates was poor due to few projects and poor demand. Indian hot rolls have poor market demand due to the general election and the upcoming monsoon season, and the market is bearish. Overall, the global steel market is generally stable and weak, with the exception of the Chinese market which is on the strong side due to favorable macroeconomic conditions. The overall demand has not improved much compared to last week. It is expected that steel prices will remain volatile and weak in the future.
