Posted on 10 Mar 2021
China’s rebar output from the 137 sampled producers including both the integrated mills and re-rollers totaled 3.38 million tonnes over February 25-March 3, up for the second week by another 188,200 tonnes or 5.9% on week, as more steel re-rollers and electric-arc-furnace (EAF) mills ramped up output on noting higher steel margins together with higher steel prices since late, according to Mysteel’s weekly survey.
Jiangsu, Hubei, Sichuan and Fujian, in East, Central and South China accounted for the most gains in rebar output as many re-rollers and EAF mills are located in these provinces, Mysteel shared, and the capacity utilization rate of the rolling lines at the surveyed producers, thus, increased by 4.1 percentage points on week to 74% while the operational rate advanced even more by 7.2 percentage points on week to 65.9%, the survey showed.
As of March 3, China’s national price of the HRB 400 20mm dia rebar reached its three-year high of Yuan 4,774/t including the 13% VAT, or up Yuan 101/tonne ($15.5/t) from February 24, while Mysteel’s national composite coke index, for example, had dropped by Yuan 70.2/t on week to Yuan 2,579.3/t including the 13% VAT as of March 4, which led to higher steel margins, Mysteel’s assessment showed.
Demand from the spot market has picked up steadily after the Chinese New Year celebration, and over February 25-March 3, spot sales of construction steel including rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 Chinese sampled steel traders averaged 143,705 tonnes/day, almost doubling from 87,717 t/d over February 22-24, Mysteel’s tracking showed. Mysteel halted the daily tracking over February 7-21 due to the market quietness over the CNY holiday.
However, higher output still saw rebar stocks mount up at both the 137 producers and traders for the ninth week, with the former’s inventories inching up 1.4% on week to 5.22 million tonnes as of March 3, and the volume at the traders in the 132 cities gaining another 6.7% on week to about 13 million tonnes as of March 4, according to Mysteel’s data.
In the near term, China’s demand for rebar is with uncertainties, as many end-users have been operating at 80% of their full capacities, while the rainfalls in South China have been disrupting construction activities, Mysteel Global understands from the survey.
Source:Mysteel Global
