Weekly steel price tracker: 2nd week of September – 2025

China

China’s steel market remained under pressure in early September as both steel rebar and steel billet prices slipped. Domestic rebar was assessed at 3,080–3,100 yuan per tonne ($432–435), unchanged from the previous week, while billet prices in Tangshan fell slightly to 2,990 yuan per tonne, down 10 yuan day-on-day. Futures on the Shanghai Exchange also weakened, with rebar contracts losing RMB 14/t and hot-rolled coil (HRC) down by RMB 7/t. Meanwhile, wire rod export offers held at $478/t FOB, but overseas demand remained muted. Despite the “Golden September” season, the steel price recovery in China is slower than expected due to weak construction activity and high inventories.

Turkey

In Turkey, the steel market is stagnant, reflecting weak demand for long products. Domestic steel rebar prices hovered around $535/t EXW, while wire rod offers stood at $540–565/t EXW, showing a year-on-year decline of $50/t. Turkish import scrap prices also remained flat at $342/t CFR, signaling low buying appetite from mills. Although rebar export offers were steady at $535/t FOB, traders reported very limited transactions. Additionally, construction costs in Turkey rose nearly 23% year-on-year in July, with building material costs up 19% and labor costs up 31%. This inflationary pressure, combined with currency depreciation, continues to weigh on the steel price outlook in the region.

Europe

In Europe, weak demand is still keeping steel prices below mills’ targets. Italian steel rebar prices slid to around €630/t CPT, while wire rod values remained under pressure amid slow orders. Hot-rolled coil (HRC) was quoted at €560/t EXW in Germany, while imported HRC offers stood at €490–520/t CFR Northern Europe, up slightly from the previous week. Although some restocking activity is expected later in September, the market remains cautious ahead of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). European traders confirm that despite small increases, steel market sentiment is still dominated by weak end-user consumption, particularly in construction and automotive sectors.

CIS & Asia

In the CIS region, Russian steel billet export prices held steady at $437/t FOB, while Iranian billet slipped by $5/t to $413/t FOB due to political and supply-side constraints. In Asia, import demand for steel rebar weakened further, with Chinese rebar offers to Singapore and Hong Kong dropping $5/t week-on-week to $475–480/t CFR. Meanwhile, Vietnamese imports surged 17% in August, totaling 1.35 million tonnes, supported by South Korean shipments rising 71% month-on-month. Local steel price dynamics in Vietnam were also influenced by Formosa and Hoa Phat raising their domestic HRC prices by $10–13/t, pushing new offers to around $520–530/t CIF. These shifts highlight diverging trends across the steel market in Asia, where strong import activity in Vietnam contrasts with subdued demand in other regional hubs.