China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) has announced that during last week (December 21-27) the overall average finished steel price in China increased.
In the given week, the average prices of common steel plate, hot rolled steel strip, rebar and welded steel pipe rose by 4.3 percent, 3.5 percent, 3.4 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, week on week.
Sentiment in the local steel market has worsened at the end of the year as colder weather has been impacting demand for construction steel products. On December 30, Anhui Province-based Ma’anshan Iron and Steel (Masteel) cut its offer prices for high-speed wire rod and bar-in-coil by RMB 60/mt ($9.2/mt), while it kept its prices for rebar stable.