During the weekend, the ex-works price of section steel in Tangshan market fell by 50 yuan/t. At present, Zhengfeng Steel quoted offers for 50 angle steel and 16# channel steel separately at 3310 yuan/t and 3310 yuan/t; Xinyiyuan Steel quoted offers for 16# I-beam at 3330 yuan/t. The steel strip price dropped by 20-30 yuan/t, of which the narrow strip was 3260 yuan/t, the medium strip was 3240 yuan/t, and wide strip was 3310 yuan/t.

Futures prices surged sharply during Friday’s night session. Combined with the fact that most large and medium-sized section steel producers in the Tangshan market remained shut down, downstream procurement enthusiasm was high over the weekend.

At present, demand has yet to show a meaningful recovery. Inventories of the five major domestic steel categories have risen for six consecutive weeks, with supply clearly outpacing demand.