Steel Rebar Maintains Decline from 7-Month High

Steel futures in China fell to CNY 3,210 per tonne from the seven-month high of CNY 3,345 on July 29th as markets reconsidered the scale of Chinese fiscal support against the slowdown in consumption and the prolonged property crisis. Beijing said it would implement expansionary fiscal and monetary policy to shore up spending but refrained from signaling large-scale stimulus measures. Still, the outlook of lower supply and robust infrastructure spending maintained steel futures 4% higher in the third quarter. Chinese policymakers vowed to erase overcapacity in construction inputs, with Baosteel expecting domestic output to fall by over 50 million tonnes this year due to policy bounds. Consumption also maintained its level in the near term as Chinese furnaces imported over 100 million tonnes of iron ore in July, a 1.8% annual gain, as steel exports soared by 11.4% annually year to date, the highest increase for the period on record, despite protectionist trade policies worldwide.