Posted on 15 Dec 2020
Mysteel’s steel scrap price index surged to a new high since April 1 2013 by December 11, touching Yuan 2,750.5/tonne ($420.6/t) on delivery and including the 13% VAT, or up for the seventh week by another Yuan 18.7/t, amid the remaining solid demand from the Chinese steel mills and overall rises in the prices of finished steel and the major steelmaking raw materials.
Chinese steel mills have been actively procuring scrap so as to build up their in-plant inventories to a certain level to sustain their steel output through the winter months, Mysteel Global noted.
The steel scrap stocks at China’s 61 blast furnace and electric-arc-furnace producers, thus, increased for the sixth week by another 36,600 tonnes or 1.1% on week to 3.3 million tonnes as of December 10, which will be sufficient for 13 days of consumption, at their present daily consumption rate, or 0.2 day longer on week, according to Mysteel’s survey.
In the near term, China’s domestic steel mills have and will probably sustain their steel output, as domestic steel prices had posted some recovery both in longs and flats, with China’s HRB 400 20mm dia rebar price having recovered by Yuan 96/t on week to Yuan 4,140/t and including the 13% VAT, according to Mysteel’s assessment.
China’s national price of the Q235 4.75mm HRC assessed by Mysteel moved up for the eighth week by another Yuan 278/t on week to Yuan 4,494/t including the 13% VAT as of last Friday, according to Mysteel’s data.
On the other hand, China’s prices of other steelmaking raw materials such as iron ore surged on the remaining solid demand and the market concern on supply in the near term, with Mysteel’s SEADEX 62% Fe Australian Fines, for example, surged to a new high since October 12 2011, or gained another $15.1/dmt on week to $159.95/dmt CFR Qingdao as of December 11.
China’s national coke pricing index rose by Yuan 17.7/t on week to Yuan 2,154.7/t including 13% VAT, or a new high since late December 2018, Mysteel’s data shows.
Written by Lindsey Liu, liulingxian@mysteel.com
Edited by Hongmei Li, li.hongmei@mysteel.com
Source:Mysteel Global
