Steel price fades recovery amid slowdown fears, pre-Fed anxiety

Steel price retreat from intraday high as market sentiment dwindles ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in early Wednesday. Also challenging the metal buyers are concerns about the Chinese steel mills’ re-start, as well as fears of recession. However, a notable decline in the metal’s global output during the first half of 2022 (H1 2022), as well as an end of monsoon in China, keeps the bulls hopeful.

That said, prices of the steel rebar’s most active futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SFE) extend pull back from the daily open of 3,895 yuan per metric tonne (MT) to 3,820 yuan per MT.

World Steel Association reported a 5.5% fall in the global crude steel production during H1 2022 to 949.4 million tonnes. The report cited a slump in the output of the key producers in Asia and Oceania as a major catalyst for the fall in steel output.