Steel prices in China continued a downtrend last week, despite a temporary hike for two days. Weak demand from end users was blamed for the fall, according to the latest report by Mysteel, a steel information provider in China.
The domestic spot steel price composite index closed at 79.33 points by August 11, down 0.97 percent week on week, said Mysteel. The domestic steel prices showed an inverted V-shape last week. Due to the lackluster demand, price fell again.
The upcoming holidays, including a two-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday and a seven-day National Day holiday, will also weigh on the demand. Given upcoming arrival of new supplies, traders are speeding up sales of the goods in hand, said Mysteel.
Meanwhile, on the homegrown ore market, prices of iron ore concentrates in north China's Hebei Province performed weakly amid stabilization. As steel mills reduced purchases, mine producers also lacked the confidence to hike the ore price.
In contrast, prices of imported iron ores continued rebounding. By August 11, Platts 62-percent iron ore price index closed at 59.25 US dollars/metric ton (tonne), up 2.5 US dollar week on week, hitting a new high since July 1. In August, China's iron ore imports were down 11.98 million tonnes from a month earlier with the monthly imports hitting a new low since March this year, which stimulated a slight rise in prices of iron ore imports, to some degree. However, a large number of iron ore imports will reach the domestic ports since mid September, which will lead to a fall in ore price, according to the latest report of the Xiben New Line.
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