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Steel prices melt as supply beats demand
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STEEL prices in China continued to spiral downward in July as market supply far exceeded demand, latest data from the China Iron and Steel Association revealed yesterday.
The CISA China steel price index came in at 62.73 by the end of July, down 5.94 percent from a month earlier. The index marked a drop of 31.56 percent from a year ago, as no significant improvement in the supply-demand mismatch was seen, according to the CISA.
It cited the weak demand to the prolonged downward pressure on the broader economy, which grew 7 percent in the first half of the year.
As the government’s pro-growth policies such as higher infrastructure spending gradually filter through, CISA expects better steel demand in the second half of the year. But a sharp rebound in prices is unlikely due to high output and a weak export outlook, it added.
Earlier data showed China’s crude steel output totaled 476 million tons in the first seven months of 2015, down 1.8 percent year on year, while apparent use shed 5.2 percent to 420 million tons.
The Chinese government has been trying to digest production gluts from an investment boom spawned by generous subsidies that saw producers in “favored” sectors, including steel, expand rapidly at the expense of real market demand.
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