Posted on 16 Mar 2021
China’s crude steel output over January-February approximated 175 million tonnes, or up 12.9% on year against the 7% annual growth in the aspect for 2020, according to the latest data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on March 15, though it was mainly due to the low base numbers for the first quarter of 2020 when the country was struck by the COVID-19.
Over January-February, China’s daily crude steel output averaged 2.97 million tonnes/day, up from 2.94 million t/d for last December or 2.91 million t/d for the whole 2020, and it was way higher than the about 2.5 million t/d for the first quarter of 2020, Mysteel Global calculated based on the NBS data.
The rather high steel output for the first two months of 2021 had to do with the anticipation of the Chinese steel mills and market on the quicker recoveries in demand from the end-users after Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday, as their employees had been celebrating the CNY in their migrant cities.
Besides, the market outlook for the whole 2021 appeared positive due to the continuity of the efforts by Beijing to tide the national economy over the bumpy road because of the COVID-19 as well as the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period and the 100th anniversary of founding of the Communist Party of China, all in 2021, Mysteel Global noted.
The overall positive atmosphere also saw China’s finished steel production up more remarkably by 23.6% on year to about 209.5 million tonnes over January-February, in comparison with a 10% on-year rise for 2020, according to the NBS data.
China’s domestic steel prices had been supportive to the overall market optimism especially after the CNY holiday since mid-February, with the national price of HRB400 20mm dia rebar price, for example, reached Yuan 4,688/tonne ($721/t) as of February 26, up Yuan 321/t from the end of 2020, according to Mysteel’s assessment.
The daily trading of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among China’s 237 trading houses reached 87,982 tonnes/day by February 26, against the 7,502 t/d tonnes as of February 5, the last day Mysteel tracked the daily transaction volume before the CNY break.
In March, China’s domestic steel demand seems to have strengthened further, as the daily trading volume has been climbing up steadily so far, with the volume averaging 146,289 tonnes/day over February 22-March 12, or having exceeded 150,000 t/d since March 5 and once having surpassed 200,000 t/d on March 12, according to Mysteel’s database.
Source:Mysteel Global
