Posted on 17 Jun 2022
Daily crude steel production among the member mills of the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) reversed down 1.3% or 30,700 tonnes/day from the last 11 days of May, reaching an average of 2.29 million t/d over June 1-10, according to the latest statistics released by the association on Wednesday.
Based on its member mills' data, CISA estimated the country's daily crude steel output at 3.13 million t/d in the first ten days of June, slipping 1.1% from May 21-31.
Market sources commented that during early June, the wavering finished steel prices had squeezed margins of many electric-arc-furnace (EAF) steel mills, as steelmaking scrap prices stayed relatively stable, therefore those producers trimmed their output or even suspended operations.
In early June, China's national HRB400E 20mm dia rebar price for example, trended upwards till June 6, but spiralled down thereafter. By June 10, the benchmark price was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 4,821/tonne ($720/t) including the 13% VAT, or up Yuan 35/t from that on May 31.
On the other hand, continuous heavy downpours lately engulfing southern parts of China have dampened the recovery in steel demand, which in turn weighed on domestic steel prices, according to a Shanghai-based market watcher.
Meanwhile, cautious steel purchasing from end-users gave rise to mounting finished steel inventories at CISA's member mills, up 3.4% from May 31 to 18.5 million tonnes as of June 10, and it was also 30.3% higher on year or surging 64.2% from the level at the start of 2022, the official data showed.
Over June 1-10, the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among 237 Chinese trading houses under Mysteel's tracking averaged 162,554 t/d, inching up just 8,371 t/d from late May's average.
Source:Mysteel Global
