Fears surrounding the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant across the country and lower activity in China's domestic physical steel markets reduced Chinese spot prices for imported steel billet in the week ended Tuesday January 18, sources told Fastmarkets.
There were 171 officially confirmed, symptomatic Covid-19 cases recorded in China on Tuesday, according to the country’s National Health Commission.
The apparent hotspot is in Henan province, which accounted for 102 cases.
Logistics continue to be hampered at the major Chinese port city of Tianjin just over a week after the authorities reintroduced mass Covid-19 testing in the region, which is slowing both import and export activity.
The outbreak at the port city, combined with the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday starting officially on January 31, led workers in the construction sector to start their holidays early. Sources now expect end-user demand for rebar to drop rapidly over the rest of this month, which will compound the recent drops in prices for long steel, a China...