Posted on 04 Jun 2021
Daily consumption of imported iron ore sintering fines among the 64 Chinese steelmakers under Mysteel’s regular survey increased to a three-month high of 561,800 tonnes/day over May 20-June 2, rising by 31,200 t/d or 5.9% from that over May 7-19, new survey data shows. In parallel, the stocks of those fines at the same mills fell by some 5% over the past two weeks.
In general, over the survey period steel production among Chinese steelmakers remained high and stable, although their margins were shaved when finished steel prices began their steep decline from mid-May.
The findings of another survey show that blast furnace capacity utilization among the 247 domestic steel mills Mysteel tracks had climbed to 91.41% as of May 28, up for the eighth week and rising by another 0.54 percentage point on fortnight.
Among the six areas and regions surveyed, the growth in daily consumption of imported sintering fines was most pronounced among mills in Tangshan in North China’s Hebei, with their average daily use increasing to 120,100 t/d on June 2, having recovered by 18,800 t/d or 18.6% from that as of May 19. Consumption had dipped for the prior two survey periods, the data also showed.
“Although most Tangshan mills were still strictly complying with government directives to curtail their operative steelmaking capacity, they ramped up production during the past two weeks after the government temporarily eased the curbs on sintering facilities on two occasions over May 12-14 and May 18-22,” a Shanghai-based analyst observed. Those mills’ daily consumption of imported sintering fines had slumped during the prior survey period due to the temporary curbs, she added.
As a result, inventories of imported sintering fines stockpiled at the same 64 Chinese steel mills thinned over May 20-June 2 to 16.2 million tonnes, lower by 793,900 tonnes or 4.7% compared with the total stocked as at May 19. At the mills’ current rate of consumption, the existing tonnage should be enough to keep them operating for around 26 days, three days less than the previous survey.
“China’s mills have been cautious about procuring imported iron ore given the declining steel prices, and many of them chose to replenish in small quantities only for their near-term production. That’s why their stocks shrank a little,” she pointed out.
Source:Mysteel Global
