Shanghai lifted the lockdown in a comprehensive and orderly manner on June 1st 2022, and Shanghai played a decisive role in the economic recovery of the entire Yangtze River Delta. At the same time, a video conference on the work of national financial support to stabilize the economic market was also held in Beijing. According to the conference, in addition, recently, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui announced the complete cancellation of epidemic prevention restrictions on freight vehicles in low-risk areas. For freight vehicles from low-risk areas, the 48-hour nucleic acid test negative certificate is not checked, and the introduction of local policies and one-size-fits-all is strictly prohibited. The logistics and transportation in East China will fully return to normal, bringing great convenience to the cross-regional transportation of steel.

There has been a lot of good news recently, including the intensive introduction of a package of economic stabilization measures by multiple departments, the epidemic situation in various places continues to improve, and the demand for steel is likely to pick up in June. At the same time, some steel mills and coking plants reduced production due to losses, which also helped ease the pressure on supply and demand.

For the steel market in June, industry analysts believe that the pressure on the cost side of steel prices will increase again, and the demand will improve compared with April and May, and market confidence will be restored. A slight rebound in steel prices will definitely occur, and the basis difference between steel futures and spot will be narrowed. In short, market confidence is still recovering, and the short-term steel price shocks are too strong, so it should not be raised too quickly.