In the first half of July, the international steel market was first suppressed and then raised.

Asian steel market: ups and downs. The benchmark price index of steel in the region of 125.7 points fell by 0.1% on a week-on-week basis (the decline was converging), which fell by 2.9% month-on-month (expanded increase), up 22.7% year-on-year.

In terms of flat products: market prices have been mixed. In South Korea, just entering July, South Korean cold-rolled flat product manufacturers have announced price increases. Among them, the eastern steel has already set a new price tag, and other companies such as Dongguo Steel and Shiya Group also cooperated to raise prices. According to industry insiders, Eastern Steel has issued a notice to increase the price of all cold rolled flat products by 40,000 won/ton since July 16. Dongkuk Steel and Shiya Group announced that their cold rolled flat products prices will increase by 50,000 won / ton. Manufacturers of cold-rolled flat products said that because they will continue to bear the burden of increased production costs in the middle of the year, manufacturers have to raise prices to overcome current difficulties.

For long products: market prices are mixed. In Singapore, Singapore's rebar import prices continued to fall due to insufficient demand from downstream end users. However, most local buyers are still willing to maintain their appearance and do not want to place orders. Some Singaporean mills said that due to recent price fluctuations in the Chinese market, it may not be the time for Singapore buyers to get the goods. Recently, the bargaining range of the rebar import market has also declined. The buyer's CFR Singapore bargaining price is mostly at $545-550/ton. The previous bargaining range was at $560/ton, and the mainstream Chinese steel mill FOB China Port was offered at $535-540/ton, equivalent to the CFR Singapore offer of $555-560/ton.

In terms of trade relations: (1) On July 6, the Ministry of Industry and Trade recently issued Decision No. 2398/QD-BCT to impose anti-dumping duties on stainless steel products imported from China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan. The new anti-dumping tax rate is from July 20, 2018 to October 6, 2019, of which: the tax rate for stainless steel producers in mainland China is 25.35%, but the tax rate of Shanxi Taigang is 17.47%.

Brief Intro: Based on the fundamentals of the Asian market, the Asian steel market in July is expected to continue to rise and fall.