BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Spot steel prices in China recently continued dropping within a narrow range due to weak demands from the steel consumers.
According to Mysteel, a steel information provider in China, the domestic spot steel price composite index closed at 140.05 points last Friday, down 4.86 percent week on week.
Specifically, prices have fallen sharply in the construction steel market. The average price of mainstream rebar varieties in the major markets was 4,006 yuan per metric ton (tonne), down 215 yuan week on week.
Although the traders cut prices in the hope of generating more sales, the steel turnover stayed weak for most of last week despite a temporary improvement.
Under sluggish demand, social inventory of steel kept falling while steel stocks at the steel mills remained high, said Mysteel.
The declining prices and increasing inventory have dampened the steel mills’ purchases of the iron ore, an ingredient for steel making, leading to the fall in iron ore prices.
According to the latest report of the Xiben New Line, the domestic price of iron concentrate fell in November, due to the flagging demand of steel enterprises.
Steel prices in China hit the highest level of the year at the beginning of November. Due to bearish sentiment in the market and weak demands, the steel prices will likely to maintain a downtrend in the short term, predicted by some institutes. (Edited by Wu Shuang, wushuang2018@xinhua.org)
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