Iron ore futures continued to slide in the trading session today, amid market sentiment of slowing steel demand for the new year.
The futures of Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) for January delivery then fell by 1.92% day-on-day or down RMB 13 to RMB 663/mt, during the day trading session on Wednesday.
The rebar futures also went down slightly by 0.28% day-on-day or down RMB 12 to RMB 4,315/mt, during the day trading session.
China’s steel demand to drop in 2022
There was much market uncertainty for steel consumption in the ailing Chinese property sectors, as Mysteel predicted crude steel demand to drop by 1.2% on-year to 970 million mt for 2022.
The slowdown of the property sector had a huge impact on steel demand as it was the largest consumer, and it slated to achieve mild growth next year.
However, China’s manufacturing and infrastructure construction is expected to grow at better rate next year and might offset some of the steel consumptions lost to the slowing property sector.
Growing Chinese steel imports and falling exports by year end
China’s semi steel imports are slated to rise in December, as trade sources revealed that import volume had been picking up recently.
So far, the country had imported 1.42 million mt of steel product during November, up 25.7% monthly, based on customs data. This import figures are estimated to rise during the month of December, due to firmer domestic demand, according to trade sources.
However, the country’s steel export volume is likely to follow a downward trend, due to lack of market activities in the international market during holidays season.