Posted on 04 Aug 2025
Run rates among Chinese electric-arc-furnace (EAF) steel producers continued rising during the week ended July 31, with the steelmakers producing enthusiastically to chase profits, the results of Mysteel's latest survey showed.
During July 25-31, the average capacity utilization rate among the 90 independent EAF steel producers under Mysteel's tracking increased for the third straight week by another 1.6 percentage points on week to reach 57.1%, while their operational rate also rose by 2.2 percentage points from the prior week to 74.2%.
Two mini-mills in Southwest China completed their maintenance and restarted operations this week, while other sampled mills all maintained stable operations, Mysteel's survey showed. This led to an increase of some 2,400 tonnes/day in steel output on average.
Earlier this week, Chinese steel prices were still hovering around the highest level for the past five months, while domestic steel scrap prices were tracking downward steadily, according to Mysteel's data. This allowed more mini-mills to enjoy healthier margins on steel sales.
On July 30, for example, Mysteel assessed China's national spot price for HRB400E 20mm diameter rebar at Yuan 3,463/tonne ($481/t) including the 13% VAT, higher by Yuan 21/t from a week earlier.
By July 31, the average loss on rebar sales incurred by the 67 independent EAF steelmakers under Mysteel's other tracking had narrowed to just Yuan 8/t, much smaller than the Yuan 33/t recorded a week earlier.
On the same day, these mills could enjoy an average profit of Yuan 93/t when selling the products they made during the off-peak period for electricity consumption at night, the survey showed.
However, in the latter part of this week Chinese steel prices began showing signs of weakening as the ferrous market sentiment has cooled gradually, Mysteel Global noted. This is expected to weaken the steelmakers' enthusiasm for production in the days ahead.
Next week, run rates at domestic EAF mills are still expected to climb, but the increase is likely to be smaller than in previous weeks, Mysteel's survey showed.
Source:Mysteel Global
