China’s steel market expected to fluctuate while entering second half of Nov
China’s hot-rolled (HR) product prices increased steadily from the beginning of November. The reasons were that the market expected the US Federal Reserve (FED) might slow down the increasing rate and the US economy returns to optimism.
The China's social inventories of HR products have kept decreasing since July, which releases pressure on the supply side and can increase steel prices. Apart from that, because the prices of raw materials increased, the cost of HR products manufacturing went up, further supporting the prices.
However, with entering the second half of November, the market might fluctuate. This was because downstream buyers would no longer accept the high price and try to stabilize the price. Besides that, a new HR production line in South and East China will be put into operation, which might put the supply side under pressure.
