Issue 29, 2024 - This week's editorial: Chinese market sees more disappointment, Europe gets real

The Chinese economy has become adept at delivering disappointment in recent years. Expectations had been raised sky high after decades of economic boom, but the country’s economy is now rebalancing against the backdrop of geopolitical fragmentation, which is redrawing global cost-competitive supply chains. However, China’s steelmakers seem not to have got the memo yet.

Last week, all eyes were on the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which was anticipated to see the announcement of measures to boost economic growth and, in turn, steel demand in the second half of the year. Instead, Chinese hot rolled coil prices sunk to two-year lows last Friday, following the meeting’s conclusion, with export prices their lowest since 2020, while Chinese rebar dropped to levels not seen since 2017. For more information, see the KSW Asia and Feature sections.

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