SHANGHAI, Aug 31 (SMM) – Rebar futures prices closed down 3.68% at 3,875 yuan/mt yesterday, dragging down spot prices as well.
SMM survey showed that the operating rates of electric furnaces of steel mills jumped 9.3 percentage points to 29.6% this week due to centralised production resumptions in east and south-west China, pushing up local supply pressure.
End users still restocked as needed.
The resurgence of COVID in Sichuan, Heilongjiang and Hubei disrupted local transportation and production, thus inhibiting the recovery of demand.
Recently, rebar output is increasing at a much faster pace than its demand. In addition, increasing COVID cases in many regions has intensified market pessimism.
As such, steel prices may remain under pressure in the short term.
