In its report “Global Steel: Steel Market Barometer – May Update,” Goldman Sachs said average hot-rolled coil prices rose in almost all major markets in April, led by Brazil by 10 percent month-on-month, followed by Japan by 6.5 percent and China by 2.9 percent. “On a YTD basis, HRC steel price performance in Brazil was the strongest in our sample (+21%), followed by the US (+15%) with other regions also showing price increases of 6%-13%,” ANI said.The report said that India continued to show a strong rise within this global upward trend, with crude steel production rising by 11 percent year-on-year in March, compared to annual growth of 10 percent and 7 percent in February. Meanwhile, long steel prices also rose in April in all major regions, with Brazil recording a 12 percent rise in rebar prices, followed by Europe with 6.9 percent and the Black Sea region with 6.1 percent. On the supply side, China’s steel production continued to contract, falling by 3.2 percent year-on-year in the first two weeks of May. Commenting on the sector, Goldman Sachs said: “At the industry level, while anti-rollover efforts and the long-term capacity reduction plan for the Chinese steel sector remain intact, we see a delay in implementation in 2026E in terms of capacity and production discipline.”
Regional trends showed mixed performance across major producers. Crude steel production in Europe rose 16 percent month-on-month in March, although it remained lower year-on-year and year-to-date. In the United States, average weekly steel production rose 3 percent in April, while utilization rates averaged 79.6 percent. Goldman Sachs added that infrastructure activity in China remained resilient despite weakness in the real estate sector, while manufacturing improved and construction declined. It expected steel prices to remain broadly stable in major global markets until 2026, with prices in the United States expected to remain stronger than prices in Europe, China and Brazil.