Posted on 04 Sep 2020
China’s production of crude stainless steel continued to grow in August, supported by the eagerness of the domestic stainless mills to keep producing, given the better demand from stainless buyers and the robust stainless prices in the domestic market, Mysteel’s latest monthly survey among the 32 Chinese stainless mills has found.
Last month, China’s total output of crude stainless steel registered 2.76 million tonnes, climbing for the sixth consecutive month and rising by another 1.7% on month or 2% on year. Within the total, output of 300-series and 400-series stainless continued rising last month, while that of 200-series reversed down slightly from the previous month, the survey showed.
China’s August stainless output
(Unit: tonne)
Source: Mysteel
Most Chinese stainless producers kept their production at a high level last month, as “demand from end-users remained firm and they (stainless mills) had received a lot of new orders for delivery in September,” a market source in Shanghai commented.
The high output is expected to continue this month as signs of better demand have bolstered the domestic mills’ enthusiasm for producing, Mysteel Global notes. Crude stainless production may increase by another 0.1% on month or 9.7% on year to 2.76 million tonnes in September, Mysteel estimates, based on its survey of the 32 stainless mills.
In parallel, the combined production of crude stainless at the Indonesian works of Tsingshan Holding Group and Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry Co climbed further, rising by a healthy 13.3% on month in August to 255,000 tonnes, close to the on-month growth of 14.2% witnessed in July from June, according to the survey. The tonnage is likely to pick up further this month to reach 265,000 tonnes, which would be up another 3.9% on month or soaring by 56% on year, Mysteel estimates.
Domestic stainless prices have been rising continuously over the past two months on support of strong raw material prices and improving demand from end-users.
As of September 1, the price of 304/2B 2mm stainless cold rolled coil in Wuxi was at Yuan 15,200/tonne ($2,226/t) in-warehouse and including the 13% VAT, making for a large on-month rise of Yuan 1,100/t, according to Mysteel’s data. The three-month nickel buyers’ price on the London Metal Exchange jumped to $15,697/t as of September 1 after rallying by $1,891/t over the past month.
Written by Nancy Zheng, zhengmm@mysteel.com
Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com
Source:Kallanish
