Where is the price of steel headed? Steel futures have been on a decline since the end of November, 2023 when they topped out at $4039. On March 15, 2024 the price was $3429 - a 17% decline. This past week the price jumped over 4% to $3564. So where is the price going and what does this mean for Stelco? The news for steel demand in China is optimistic which could impact Stelco over the coming few months and into the summer. Here is a quote from Trading Economics, https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/steel, that offers some insight into where the price for steel is going.
Steel futures climbed back to CNY 3,500 per tonne after hitting a near four-year low of CNY 3,429 on March 15th, as encouraging data from China, the world's leading steel consumer, reigniting optimism for a demand resurgence. Notably, industrial output surged by 7% in the initial two months of 2024, surpassing market projections of 5%, while retail trade expanded by 5.5%, outstripping forecasts of 5.2%. In addition, investment in the property sector, the largest steel consumer in China, slid 9% year-on-year, compared with a 24% fall in December. The latest economic data came as a welcome relief, particularly following earlier reports indicating a larger-than-anticipated drop in new bank lending in February and an 8.1% annual decline in steel imports to China in the January-February period.