Since the beginning of winter in 2017, the domestic steel prices have been climbing steadily. Although the prices went through a rather large pullback since December, the overall price increase was still over RMB1,000 compared with the beginning of the year. Another more obvious feature is that from the second half of 2017, the steel price difference between North and South began to gradually widen. By the end of the spread reached its peak, the highest price of steel exceeded 1200 yuan, setting a new high of North-South spread.
Data monitoring shows that as of January 3, the average price of grade 3 rebar in Beijing is 4100 yuan (t price, the same below), Guangzhou is 5250 yuan, the price difference amounts to 1150 yuan, the highest spread is at the end of December 2017 , More than 1,200 yuan.
Wang Guoching, director of Lange Steel Research Institute, said there are several main reasons for the current steel price difference between North and South. One reason is that after entering the winter, there is a big difference in temperature between the north and south and the winter in Beijing, but in the south Still warm and suitable for construction, so the price of steel in the southern region is still firmer. During the price hike, the rate of increase is faster than that of the north. However, in the falling market started in the middle of December, the decline in the southern part of China was eased, resulting in The spread between the two is getting bigger and bigger. On the other hand, there is a certain imbalance in the supply of steel products in the north and south regions. Steel production in the southern region is relatively weak, especially in the construction of steel products. The steel production in the northern region is relatively concentrated, thus causing the construction steel spread widening.
In view of the demand, supply, climate differences and other factors, the existence of winter steel North-South spread is the phenomenon has existed for many years, usually can reach a few hundred dollars of the difference, usually up to 600-700 yuan can reach the price difference, and therefore often appear "North timber south" situation. However, due to the remarkable results in terms of capacity-to-production capacity and the unexpectedly higher heating output limit for the period starting in November, coupled with the large manufacturers' forecast of work stoppage in northern China, more production lines were initially adjusted to plate products, This led to a serious shortage of construction materials specifications, resulting in a tight balance in supply in the northern part of the country. Therefore, even though the price gap hit a new high, the overall number of "northbound timber" has not risen due to huge spreads.
This difference in prices this year, unlike in previous years, perhaps there is another more important reason, that is, "exit of steel." Wang Guoqing said that the "strip steel" in the south is to a large extent alleviated the inadequate supply of local products, but due to the ban on "strip steel" this year, more than 100 million tons of "strip steel" capacity can be completely eliminated , Making the supply deficit in the southern market even more pronounced this year. Because of this, it caused the spread between North and South to continue to widen in mid-to-late December. In the northern part of China, the demand in the northern part of China contracted sharply. When the price dropped significantly, the southern part of China continued to remain relatively strong.
It is noteworthy that under the condition that the spread between the North and the South keeps at a high level, it will not be ruled out that resources southward will be intensified. As a major area southward from markets such as Guangdong and Shanghai, due to the better demand, a large amount of resources may be caused South, let the price pressure.
