Macquarie sees Chinese steel getting cheaper

Shanghai

THE world needs to get used to cheap Chinese steel, with export prices poised to fall again next year as the world's biggest producer adjusts to demand that's dropping for the first time in a generation.

The price of hot-rolled coil, used in everything from fridges to freight containers, may decline about 13 per cent next year, Colin Hamilton, Macquarie Group Ltd's head of commodities research, said by phone from London.

The nation's steel exports, which have ballooned to more than 100 million tonnes this year, may stay at those levels for the rest of the …