Platts China steel index eases

Thursday, 3 April 2014

See above the April Platts steel sentiment index for April, which is kind of like Mac Bank’s version except not as good. This index needs a reboot. It’a headline reading is overly dependent upon new orders. Any indicating suggesting steel mill strength over the past six weeks has a wayward compass.

In April, new orders are down a little but still strong, production has fallen sharply and mill destocking is the flavour the day.

Rebar and Dalian futures are both up a little today.

About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.