Posted on 25 Aug 2022
Daily crude steel output among the member mills of the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) increased further over August 11-20, climbing another 2.7% or 53,000 tonnes/day from the prior ten days to approximately 2 million t/d on average, according to the association's latest sharing on August 24. Steel mills, especially blast-furnace producers, had gradually resumed production after their profit margins had recovered, sources said.
Based on the performance of its member mills, CISA also estimated the country's daily crude steel output at 2.74 million t/d in the mid-August period, inching up 0.5% from August 1-10.
Meanwhile, the findings of Mysteel's survey among a larger group of domestic 247 blast-furnace and 85 electric-arc-furnace mills were in line with CISA's, as their average daily crude steel production over August 11-20 rose by 3.4% or 88,500 t/d from the first ten days of August, to reach an average of 2.7 million t/d.
Domestic spot steel prices had been rangebound in mid-August amid shaky market sentiment. For example, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel's assessment had fallen by Yuan 47/tonne ($6.9/t) from August 10 to reach Yuan 4,236/t and including the 13% VAT as of August 19.
On the other hand, steel prices had not gained much support from iron ore prices either, as the Mysteel SEADEX 62% Australian Fines index eased by $8.65/dmt during the same period to nearly a one-month low of $99.35/dmt CFR Qingdao by August 19.
As for domestic steel demand, this remained rather slack as the intense heatwave the country is experiencing impacted outdoor construction activities, as reported. The daily trading volume of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses Mysteel tracks nationwide averaged just 142,488 t/d over August 11-20, down 12,174 t/d from early August.
As of August 20, finished steel stocks among CISA member mills had climbed further by 1.6% or 278,900 tonnes from August 10 to settle at 17.3 million tonnes, also some 53.4% higher from that at the start of 2022, the CISA data showed.
Source:Mysteel Global
