reported short sales, page-102

makes you wonder what is going on with our sp with all the good news on iron ore.

- 06 Sep 2013
Bloomberg reported that the fastest Chinese steel output on record is still too slow to meet demand from builders, reducing inventories and driving prices toward a bull market.

Production of steel reinforcement bars rose 14% to 113 million metric tonnes in the first seven months and stockpiles slumped 35% from an all time high, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Rebar, accounting for almost one third of steel output in China, will average CNY 4,000 (USD 655) a tonne in the fourth quarter, 7% more than now and the highest in more than a year, according to the median of 15 analyst estimates.

The appetite for steel suggests sustained demand for commodities, even as Premier Li Keqiang tries to curb excess lending and shutter inefficient plants in industries from metals to cement. Imports from copper to crude oil are rebounding as manufacturing data add to signs that China will meet Li’s 7.5% growth target this year.

Mr Jia Liangqun chief analyst at Mysteel Research as the Shanghai based company that provides data to the National Development and Reform Commission said that “The overcapacity that everybody was so worried about is turning out to be moot because 2013 is shaping up as a record year for steel demand. To reduce the pain as it rebalances the economy, the government has no choice but to keep doing one of the things it does best investment in infrastructure, real estate and fixed assets.”

Source – Bloomberg

(www.steelguru.com)