Steel price to inch up this week, boosted by lingering pre-holiday stockpiling

Ferrous metal market entered bullish territory from a subdued note last week. Falling A-shares blunted market sentiment at the beginning of last week. In the middle of last week, the second round of coke price slip took place. In addition, apparent demand for HRC and rebar seasonally softened. Therefore, futures price fell below the previous low. In the second half of last week, there were rumours that the PBC may lower the loan benchmark interest rate, boosting market sentiment to a certain extent. Therefore, futures price stopped falling and rebounded.
Looking forward, there will still be a round of coke price cuts. Given lingering pre-holiday stockpiling of steel mills, a decline in costs may be limited. Steel demand will be less affected by seasonal factors. Under this circumstance, steel price may be volatile this week.