Steel price struggles to cheer softer US inflation on China concerns

Steel price reverses the post US inflation gains as traders fail to cheer softer US dollar amid fears of more output and higher costs, as well as a lack of demand, during early Thursday morning in Europe. That said, the construction steel rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SFE) slipped 0.1% while the hot-rolled coil gained 0.1%. Further, stainless steel rose 0.9% by the press time.

Given the recently mixed performance of steel traders, Reuters said, “Steel mills have restarted some of their idled blast furnaces in recent days, encouraged by improved margins and a pickup in demand from the construction sector.”

The news analysis also mentioned that the medium-term demand outlook for steel products and ingredients remains clouded by several issues, such as mandatory steel output cuts in China aimed at curbing emissions, a financial crisis engulfing Chinese property developers and COVID-19 lockdowns.

Elsewhere, the mixed comments from the Fed policymakers join the China-linked news surrounding the Sino-American trade war, covid and Taiwan, to weigh on the market sentiment and the steel prices.

Recently, Mary Daly, President of the San Francisco Fed hesitated to declare victory over inflation, even after the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined to 8.5% on YoY in July versus 8.7% expected and 9.1% prior. In doing so, the policymakers joined the likes of Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari and Chicago Fed President Charles Evans. Previously, Fed’s Kashkari mentioned that he hasn't "seen anything that changes" the need to raise the Fed's policy rate to 3.9% by year-end and 4.4% by the end of 2023. Further, Fed policymaker Evens stated, “The economy is almost surely a little more fragile, but would take something adverse to trigger a recession.” Fed’s Evans also called inflation "unacceptably" high.

Talking about China-related news, Reuters relied on sources to mention that the saying US President Biden rethinks steps on China tariffs in wake of Taiwan response. Additionally, a jump in the coronavirus cases from China, to 700 new confirmed cases in the mainland on August 10 versus 444 a day earlier, also weighs on the pair. Furthermore, China Customs’ latest rejection of US meat from a specific producer and comments from the Taiwan Foreign Ministry, suggest rejection of China’s motto of 'One country, Two systems’.

Looking forward, US Jobless Claims and the monthly Producer Price Index (PPI) for July. Furthermore, Friday’s preliminary readings of the US Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for August will also be important for fresh impulse.