Posted on 24 May 2021
Rebar, China’s top steel product, saw its production surge 16.9% on year over January-April to about 87 million tonnes, among which 23.7 million tonnes were for April, or up 11.8% on year, according to the data released by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on May 20, mainly as the country’s demand inclined substantially with the economic stimulus efforts since 2020 to counter the adverse impact of COVID-19.
Rebar, thus, accounted for 19.5% of the country’s total finished steel output at 121.28 million tonnes for April or 19.2% for the first four months, the NBS data showed.
China’s fixed asset investment (FAI) grew 19.9% on year over January-April to approximately Yuan 14.4 trillion ($2.2 trillion), which was also up 8% from two years earlier, among which that in the property market topped Yuan 4 trillion, up 21.6% on year or 17.6% from the corresponding period of 2019, and the funding in infrastructure soared by 18.4% on year, all of which are supportive to construction steel consumption, Mysteel Global noted.
April is also a robust steel consumption month in China, and for April 2021, Mysteel’s tracking among the 237 Chinese trading houses showed that their sales of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil went up 11% on year or up 26.8% on month to 260,471 tonnes/day on average.
Chinese steel mills, on better demand and higher margins, had been motivated for higher output too, as Mysteel’s tracking among China’s 91 blast-furnace mills showed that their rebar margins for April averaged Yuan 719/tonne ($112/t), or up Yuan 253/t on month despite higher raw material costs.
By April 30, China’s national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel’s assessment, gained Yuan 353/t on month or skyrocketed Yuan 1,636/t on year, while Mysteel SEADEX 62% Australian Fines grew $12.5/dmt on month, according to Mysteel’s data.
Source:Mysteel Global
