Posted on 13 May 2021
The steady gain in daily crude steel output among the 318 Chinese steel mills under Mysteel’s survey saw the average over May 1-10 reach 3.03 million tonnes/day, a new high since Mysteel started the survey in January 2018, according to the latest findings released on May 11.
The 318 surveyed mills comprise 247 blast-furnace (BF) and 71 electric-arc-furnace mills across China. The result for early May was 37,800 t/d or 1.3% higher from that for the last ten days of April, or up 7.4% on year. Respondents noted that so far this month, finished steel prices have continued their sharp rise, keeping domestic steel mills’ profit margins at a very high level and encouraging steelmakers to ramp up production.
On May 10, the gross profits that the BF mills earned on rebar was assessed at Yuan 1,103/tonne ($172/t), higher by Yuan 156/t from the end of April, Mysteel estimated, based on current steel and raw materials prices.
Mysteel’s latest weekly survey showed that furnace capacity utilization among the 247 BF mills grew for the fifth consecutive week over April 30-May 6, climbing by another 0.66 percentage point on week to a two-month high of 90.59%. That among the 71 EAF mills registered 76.2% during the same period, a level that is still remarkable though 0.22 percentage point lower from the prior week’s record.
Finished steel prices have witnessed dramatic growth after China’s Labour Day holiday over May 1-5. Prices are being driven upwards by the robust demand from end-users and the expectations of lower production this year on Beijing’s reiterations regarding steel output limits, sources said.
As of May 10, China’s national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, for example, had surged to Yuan 6,274/t including the 13% VAT, up Yuan 1,019/t from April 30 and refreshing the highest since Mysteel started the survey in March 2011, the data show.
Mysteel’s other survey among 237 trading houses across China showed that the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil averaged 304,542 t/d over the first ten days of May, up by an impressive 49,818 t/d or 19.6% from that for late April.
Source:Mysteel Global
