On February 17, the domestic steel market was weak, and the ex-factory price of Tangshan common billet fell by 20 to 4,630 yuan/ton. On that day, iron ore, rebar and other futures prices continued to fall, the market mentality was poor, speculative demand subsided, and the trading atmosphere was deserted.

The steel market was weak this week. After the Lantern Festival, the number of downstream terminals resuming work and production increased significantly, and steel demand continued to pick up. At the same time, the supply of steel mills is also gradually recovering. Due to the impact of production restrictions, the increase in output is controllable, and the factory warehouse has declined for the first time after the holiday. As market transactions have not yet fully recovered, the social inventory of steel is still in the normal accumulation stage. As speculative speculation subsided, iron ore futures prices fell sharply, and the steel market also showed a downward trend this week.
At present, the increase in output of steel mills is smaller than the increase in sales volume, and inventory depletion is smooth. At the end of February or the beginning of March, traders’ inventories will also enter a stage of decline, and steel demand is expected to recover in an all-round way. In the short term, market sentiment is still dominant. Once the fundamentals of supply and demand are returned, steel prices may decline first and then rise.