Summer is fading fast and autumn is approaching. With steel markets now focussed on the seasonal autumn recovery, there remain big questions hanging over the Chinese economy. China’s leaders were meant to be putting doubts to rest after their mid-summer meeting, but policy options remain limited and confidence has not …

China’s scrap market is shrinking, and has been for some time. That is unusual for a developing economy which should be seeing scrap availability surge. This issue looks at why that is, and how the trend might develop in future. After all, it was only recently that some analysts were …

Now that the panic in China’s steel markets has subsided, it is time to re-evaluate our assumptions for 2023. There is a clear need for downward revisions to the more optimistic outlook at the start of the year. However, demand is not as bad as sentiment and revisions should not …

China’s steel markets, and markets globally, lost confidence in April. Data shows steel demand continuing to recover, but not at the speed some had hoped. Positive Q1 data meanwhile has been followed by a slowdown in real estate and manufacturing in April. A resetting of expectations for the second half …