July marks the first month of falling steel prices this year

In July, for the first time this year, world steel prices fell slightly. According to MEPS International, they should continue to fall by the end of the year, but will not reach last year's levels.

Analysts at MEPS International show that monthly prices fell 0.9 percent in July. The downtrend is likely to continue for the rest of the year, but MEPS predicts prices will remain above the lowest levels recorded at the end of last year.

According to MEPS, the decline in dollar equivalent prices in the markets of the European Union, on the one hand, is the result of the traditional summer recession, with the peak of holidays, and on the other hand, due to an increase in the attractiveness of offers of steel imported from China and Russia.

Only in China, prices are pushing up against the backdrop of a reduction in production capacity in the metallurgy. However, the uncertainty of billet prices is pulling futures prices down.

In the United States, which started with the first rise in prices at the beginning of the year, the rate has now also gone down. The recent price hike was not the source of the growing demand, but was due to low supply, which fell by 80 percent. This happened as a result of reduced capacity utilization as well as stronger protection against offers in the import market. In July, a slight decrease in prices in the US was due to a seasonal weakening in demand, and manufacturers are ready to announce another price increase in September. At the same time, it is not specified to what extent this will be possible, because many consumers believe that, given the current demand, a fantastic increase in prices is not rational and it will not be possible to improve the position of producers at the expense of buyers.