Posted on 13 Jul 2021
Rebar production among the 137 Chinese steelmakers including integrated mills and re-rollers regularly tracked by Mysteel dropped for the third week over July 1-7, slipping by 2.3% or 81,200 tonnes on week to reach 3.44 million tonnes, according to the weekly survey. However, output declined at a slower pace compared with the 6.6% fall a week earlier. Last week, operations at many mills had returned to normal after celebrations in Beijing on July 1, as reported.
Steel producers in North, East and Southwest China in provinces such as Shanxi, Zhejiang and Yunnan had resumed production gradually, while those in Central China’s Henan and Hubei, East China’s Jiangsu and Southwest China’s Guangxi conducted maintenance on their rolling lines. This had led to the continuous decline in rebar output during the survey period, Mysteel Global noted.
Over the period, rebar rolling capacity utilization among the surveyed producers declined further by 1.8 percentage points to 75.5%, while the operational rate of the rolling mills at the surveyed makers reversed up by nearly 2 percentage points to 66.9%, according to Mysteel’s surveys.
Domestic steel prices have been strengthening since the July 1 festivities were wrapped up, while demand for steel has also shown signs of recovery, Mysteel Global noted.
As of July 9, Mysteel’s assessment of the country’s national price of the HRB400E 20mm dia rebar reached Yuan 5,092/tonne ($787/t) and including the 13% VAT, having risen by Yuan 150/t on week.
Over July 5-9, the spot trading volume of construction steel including rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 steel traders under Mysteel’s monitoring averaged 218,238 tonnes/day, having rebounded by 47,814 t/d or 28.1% on week. This surge in activity reflected the strengthening of steel prices and market sentiment.
Rebar inventories at the 137 domestic steel mills decreased last week after four weeks of raises, falling by 3.7% or 131,500 tonnes on week to 3.43 million tonnes as of July 7.
The tonnage at the commercial warehouses in the 35 Chinese cities Mysteel monitors grew for the fourth week however, rising by 3.1% or 244,400 tonnes on week to 8.13 million tonnes as of July 8. The market sentiment had improved modestly, and some traders had replenished their stocks, market sources said.
Table 1: Rebar Production Survey by Region by Jul 7
Table 2: Wire Rod Production Survey by Region by Jul 7
Table 3: Rebar Production Survey by Process by Jul 7
Table 4: Wire Rod Production Survey by Process by Jul 7
Table 5: Mills' Rebar and Wire Rod Stocks by Region by Jul 7
Table 6: Rebar and Wire Rod Stocks Survey by Process by Jul 7
Source:Mysteel Global
