Hopes build that lower steel prices can boost consumption

The price of steel is decreasing on both the international and domestic markets. According to the Shanghai Futures Exchange, global steel prices have fallen continuously since March 30, from $610 to $578 per tonne on April 18. According to SteelOnline.vn, the price of Pomina Steel coil dropped by $27.2 to $720 per tonne, and the price of rebar fell by $30.6 to $717.9 per tonne. Domestic prices have also dropped in a similar fashion.

SteelOrbis, as of 10 days ago, noted that “influence from the Chinese market” also had an impact on billet prices in Southeast Asia. The price per tonne of Chinese-origin billet has decreased by $15 since the beginning of April and by $10 since the end of last week. “The ongoing slump in China compounds the price uncertainty in Southeast Asia,” the website remarked.

“The lack of demand will persist for at least two months longer,” Duong Duc Quang, deputy general director of the Mercantile Exchange of Vietnam (MXV), told VIR.

According to Quang, approximately 60 per cent of steel is used in civil construction. According to him, this will continue to be a “substantial barrier to purchasing power”, so consumption growth will be limited in the short term, at least through the second quarter.