Posted on 24 Nov 2022
Over November 11-20, the continuous fall in daily steel output among the member mills of the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) since late September came to an end, data from the association's release on November 22 showed, with their daily output rising by a small 0.8% from the early November average.
The member mills' daily output in mid-November came in at around 2 million tonnes/day, or up 15,200 t/d, as against the 2.1% decline over November 1-10, according to CISA.
Meanwhile, CISA also estimated the country's national daily crude steel output at 2.72 million t/d on average for mid-November, or nudging down 0.02% from November 1-10, according to the release.
Finished steel stocks at those member mills mounted further by 3.5% or 578,300 tonnes from November 10 to reach 17.3 million tonnes as of November 20, which was also some 53% higher than at the beginning of 2022.
"Some mills in the northern China have had to curb their output to reduce air pollution in the regions, while those in (East China's) Jiangsu province commenced maintenance work on steelmaking facilities to meet directives issued by local authorities there for production reduction," said an industry watcher. "In this context, the country's daily crude steel output seems hardly likely to increase going forward," she remarked.
Mysteel's survey among 247 blast-furnace and 85 electric-arc-furnace steel producers nationwide found that their daily steel output slipped by 1.9% or 52,200 t/d from the prior 10-day period to 2.76 million t/d on average during mid-November, as reported.
The improved market sentiment saw domestic steel prices recover further during the middle 10 days of this month. For example, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel's assessment, rose Yuan 63/tonne ($8.8/t) from that on November 10 to Yuan 3,968/t including the VAT by November 18.
In parallel, the daily trading volume of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 Chinese trading houses Mysteel regularly tracks came in at 167,144 t/d on average over November 11-20, slightly lower by 910 t/d from the early November average.
Source:Mysteel Global
