Posted on 08 Nov 2022
Daily crude steel output among the member mills of the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) over October 21-31 continued the fall that began in late September, hitting the lowest average since late August, according to the association's November 4 release. Daily output during the last 11 days of October slipped by another 1.7% or 35,800 tonnes/day from mid-October to average 2.03 million t/d.
Based on the statistics of its member mills, CISA estimated that the country's daily crude steel output averaged 2.76 million t/d during late October, nudging down 0.9% from the prior ten-day period.
The severely reduced steel margins or even losses among domestic steel producers in late October, caused by weakening finished steel prices, were largely to blame for the further reduction in daily crude steel production, market insiders explained.
As of October 31, for example, the country's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar had slumped by Yuan 156/tonne ($21.6t) from October 20 to reach Yuan 3,883/t including the 13% VAT, according to Mysteel's assessment, the lowest since November 2 2020.
Also as of October 31, finished steel stocks held by member mills had declined by 7% or 1.2 million tonnes from October 20 to total 16.5 million tonnes, though the tonnage was still 45.8% or 5.2 million tonnes higher than at the start of this year.
CISA's findings also matched Mysteel's latest survey among 247 blast-furnace and 85 electric-arc-furnace mills across the country, as their average daily crude steel production during the same 11-day period had shrunk by 0.5% or 13,700 t/d to reach 2.87 million t/d on average, as reported.
Chinese steel demand remained slack during late October, even though October is usually a peak month for steel consumption. The daily trading volume of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses regularly surveyed by Mysteel averaged 152,285 t/d over October 21-31, down 4,023 t/d or 2.6% from mid-October.
Source:Mysteel Global
