Analysis: Downstream steel markets slump in China

摘要

A raft of macroeconomic data has shown the extent to which the lack of activity since late January has impacted China's downstream markets for steel. Hot-rolled coil prices have fallen around 10% since before Chinese New Year though rebar has been supported by sentiment around an expected infrastructure stimulus. The number of new housing starts in China over January-February slumped by 45% on year as a result of quarantined construction workers, while residential house prices in February recorded their weakest performance for 19-months, according to National Bureau of Statistics data.