HRB Steel Price Trend and Forecast

HRB Steel Regional Price Overview

Get the latest insights on price movement and trend analysis of HRB Steel in different regions across the world (Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa).

HRB Steel Price Trend for the First Half of 2024

In the first and second quarters of 2024, the price trend of HRB steel experienced notable fluctuations across global markets, reflecting diverse regional dynamics. In India, domestic steel prices reached a three-year low, driven primarily by a significant surge in imports. This influx of foreign steel contributed to downward pressure on local prices, leading to a marked decline in demand within the domestic market.
 

HRB Steel Price Chart

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European markets, particularly in Western Europe and Italy, saw a gradual decline in HRB steel prices from their peaks earlier in the year, exacerbated by weak demand and increased availability of imports from countries like India, Taiwan, and Japan. Despite initial attempts by producers to raise prices due to limited supply and exhausted import quotas in January, these efforts proved unsustainable as demand remained subdued.

In North America, HRB steel prices also faced downward pressure, though a slight price increase in late March indicated that the market might have reached its bottom. This was driven by mills setting minimum price targets and potential production cuts to reduce supply and stabilize prices. Meanwhile, in China, HRB steel prices remained relatively stable, with minor fluctuations, as market participants adopted a wait-and-see approach amidst slow demand recovery and continued pressure from weak export markets. While some regional markets showed signs of stabilization towards the end of the period, the overall trend for HRB steel prices during H1 2024 was characterized by a downward trajectory, influenced by a combination of oversupply, weak demand, and regional market-specific challenges.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the price of HRB Steel is expected to continue its southward trail in the adjacent quarters under the influence of limited procurement from the downstream industries and a lack of support from the global trading sector.
 

HRB Steel Price Trend for the Second Half of 2023

The primary HRB steel industry in the second half of 2023 witnessed a sudden decline due to increased input costs and declining raw material prices. Domestic Asian HRB steel prices have dropped by a great margin even in the opening months of H2 of 2023. Operating profit margins for blast furnace operators also faced a southward trend as the economic challenges persisted in the market.

Secondary steelmakers reported a significant incline in their profit margins as the downstream demand for steel products inclined, but this was not indicative of the pricing trajectory of HRB steel. Additionally, supply constraints in Australia have led to a surge in market challenges as it caused overflowing of stocks in some areas and scarcity in some.

The depleted supply chains thus prompted the consumers to look for alternative solutions, leading to a shift in consumer sentiments. The production activities of HRB steel also seemed to be crunched under the influence of rising uncertainties in the prices of raw materials and crude oil, not only in the Asian countries but in Europe and North America too, exerting a negative influence on the HRB steel price trend throughout the H2 of 2023.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the price trend of HRB Steel is expected to remain southwards in the upcoming quarters as the abrupt avalanches in the cost of production and global economic challenges are not presenting a favorable market scenario.
 

HRB Steel Price Trend for First Half of 2023

The market for HRB steel suffered from the weak movement of the construction sector and other related industries. This also had a negative impact on the production rates as they consistently dropped in the first two quarters of 2023, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

The traders had forecasted that after the easing of covid-related restrictions and the holiday season in the Asia-Pacific, the demand for HRB steel would increase, but to a surprise, the market only showed low momentum and weak sentiments, hampering the growth of HRB steel price trend.

In addition to this, the scenario of the global economy also did not support the rise in prices of HRB steel, and several manufacturing plants had to cut down their production rates in a demand-deprived market. While the demand remained subdued in the first two quarters, the supply also did not show any positive sentiments due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, and with spiking inflation rates and falling economic conditions, the price trend of HRB steel declined globally.

Analyst Insight

According to Procurement Resource, the price of HRB steel is estimated to depict a declining trend as the market activities are negatively impacted by the weak supply, poor demand, and slow recovery of the Chinese manufacturing sectors.

Procurement Resource provides latest prices of HRB Steel. Each price database is tied to a user-friendly graphing tool dating back to 2014, which provides a range of functionalities: configuration of price series over user defined time period; comparison of product movements across countries; customisation of price currencies and unit; extraction of price data as excel files to be used offline.