SS Futures Prices will Remain Rangebound at Low Levels This Week

SHANGHAI, Aug 1 (SMM) - At the beginning of last week, the SS contract prices rebounded and then fell to the bottom. Last Thursday July 28, the US Fed raised the interest rates by 75 basis points, which was in line with market expectations, boosting the SS contract. After the most-traded contract was changed to 2209 last week, the spread between the futures and spots continued to narrow, and the warrant volume kept declining. The spot prices stopped falling last week and rose somewhat last Friday July 29, and the social inventory was on a downward trend. Steel mills reduced their production as the terminal demand was slack in the off-season, hence the supply and demand will still be weak in the short term. The cost support continued to weaken. Steel mills' purchasing volume of raw materials decreased, and the bid prices were announced one after another. It is expected that the short-term ferrochrome prices will continue to decline. The NPI prices will fluctuate with some downward potential under pressure as the Indonesian NPI keeps flowing into the domestic market. In short, the contradiction between supply and demand may subside in the short term, and the cost support will be poorer. SMM believes that the SS futures prices will remain rangebound with slight drops this week.