China’s Baosteel lowers August prices on hot-rolled steel

China’s leading flat-rolled manufacturer Baosteel cut prices on some domestic products for August sales. It is reported by Kallanish.

The price reduction of 100 yuan per ton ($13.7/t), in particular, concerns hot-rolled/cold-rolled roll and thick-rolled steel. At the same time, prices for other products, such as galvanized steel and coated steel, remained unchanged.

This move by the steel producer is presumably driven by low demand. A month ago, some other leading steel companies, such as Angang, lowered their prices for sales in July, but then Baosteel decided to refrain from this despite the decline in the market.

Despite the fact that the country’s metallurgists have positive expectations for the plenary session of the Communist Party of China, low demand and the general negative in the commodity markets have recently caused a drop in quotations. July 10, according to Kallanish, futures for rebar and HRC approached the lows reached at the end of March this year.

On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most demanded October 2024 rebar contract closed at 3478 yuan per ton ($478/ton) on July 10, which is 37 yuan per ton less than the previous trading day. The same contract for HRC fell by 30 yuan per ton, to 3681 yuan/ton ($506.6/ton).

As GMK Center reported earlier, world prices for hot-rolled sheet steel stagnated in most major regions during July. Negative pressure on the market causes a seasonal slowdown in demand and high supply of products. Under the influence of these factors, the US market suffered the most, where prices fell by $90/t.