Posted on 06 Mar 2024
The daily crude steel output among the member mills of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) during the last nine days of February increased further to hit the highest average since late September 2023, according to the association's latest release published on Tuesday.
The daily output grew by another 1.4% or 29,100 tonnes/day from mid-February to average 2.13 million t/d over February 21-29, the CISA data showed. The result was lower by 4.1% than the same period a year earlier though, the association notes.
Based on the latest statistics, CISA also estimated the country's daily crude steel output averaged 2.46 million t/d in late February, rising by 1% from February 11-20.
Sources attributed the continuous rise in crude steel output to the fact that many domestic mini-mills restarted operations after China's Lantern Festival on February 24.
The findings of Mysteel's survey among the 87 mini-mills it tracks showed their capacity utilization rate averaged 29.11% over February 23-29, jumping by 25.01 percentage points on week.
Domestic steel demand had picked up though at a slow pace in late February, with spot sales of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 Chinese trading houses under Mysteel's tracking averaging a mere 77,643 tonnes/day, plunging by 49.9% on year.
Meanwhile, the uptick in demand from end-users saw the CISA member mills' finished steel stocks reverse down by 5.1% or 959,000 tonnes from February 20 to reach 18.02 million tonnes as of February 29. However, the tonnage was higher by 3.4% or 600,000 tonnes on year, according to the release.
In addition, Chinese steel prices had been softening during the period largely due to the slower-than-expected improvement in downstream steel demand. As of February 29, the country's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, for example. was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 3,983/tonne ($553/t) including the 13% VAT, slipping by Yuan 50/t from that on February 20.
Source:Mysteel Global
