Steelmakers Forecast Gloom

BEIJING, July 24 -- Steels prices in China had kept climbing by 14 straight weeks till last week, according to statistics from the China Iron and Steel Association.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The composite price index of steel products reached 104.88 last week, up 1.12 percent over the previous week.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Lange Steel's survey on 30 steel products showed that the prices of 21 varieties rose by 30-300 yuan/ton last week, the prices of eight kept unchanged and only one posted a fall in its price.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Steels sales usually enter the slack season from mid-July. However, this July saw a price hike of steel products thanks to the warming up of downstream industries, analysts note.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; China's largest steel maker Baosteel earlier raised its ex-factory prices by more than 10 percent for August, with prices of hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel products up 300-500 yuan/ton, and prices of galvanized zinc and color-coated respectively up 500 yuan/ton.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Lange Steel forecasted that prices of 25 steel products will rise further this week, but the growth margin may shrink to about 50 yuan/ton.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (Source: chinamining.org) 
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