Steel price snaps four-week uptrend as recession woes mount

Steel price extends the previous day’s pullback from the weekly top, as bears attack the monthly low, amid a cluster of catalysts weighing on the quote during Friday’s Asian session. With this, the industrial metal is up for the first weekly loss in five.

Steel rebar futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SFE) slipped 0.3% while hot-rolled steel coil shed 0.6% by the press time. Further, Stainless steel dropped the most with 1.2% daily loss at the latest.

China’s electricity rationing, due to a heatwave in the top steel-producing region, has forced some mills to halt operations. The same joins the recent increase in the dragon nation’s coronavirus count to add to hardships for the metal traders.  Also, the US dollar strength and fears of global recession, not to forget the Sino-American tension over Taiwan, are extra catalysts that exert downside pressure on the steel price.