Posted on 16 Sep 2021
In August, China’s crude steel output fell more sharply on year by 13.2% on year to 83.2 million tonnes than the 8.4% on-year fall in July, indicating the continuing progress with the country’s steel production rein-in, Mysteel Global noted from the data released by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on September 15.
For August, China’s daily crude steel output fell to a new low since April 2020, or down for the fourth straight month by another 4.1% on month to 2.69 million tonnes/day, Mysteel Global calculated based on the NBS data.
Lower August steel output also eased the pace of growth in the total crude steel output for the first eight months for China, which went up 5.3% on year to 733 million tonnes, against the 8% on-year increase for January-July, according to the official data.
“China’s crude steel output was still over 44 million tonnes more on year, which means that the country still needs to beef up the efforts if it wants to achieve a decline in annual steel output for 2021,” a Beijing-based steel market source commented.
Mysteel’s survey among the 247 blast-furnace mills across China matched the official data, showing that their molten iron capacity utilization averaged 85.6% in August, down 1.76 percentage points on month, and that among China’s 71 EAF mills under the survey also fell 4.9 percentage points on month to 60.78% last month.
China’s finished steel output for both August and the first eight months posted similar trends as crude steel, with the August output falling to 108.8 million tonnes, down 10.1% on year or steeper than the 6.6% on-year decline for July, and over January-August, the volume added up to 918.3 million tonnes, still up 7.3% on year but slower than the 10.5% on-year rise for the first seven months, according to the NBS data.
Last month, China’s steel demand from end-users had been lackluster, which prompted Chinese mills to conduct maintenance both on their steelmaking and rolling lines, as for August, spot trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among China’s 237 trading houses under Mysteel’s tracking averaged 184,686 t/d, down another 2,732 t/d or 1.5% on month.
For August, China’s domestic steel prices recovered slightly on the support of the lower output and the expectation for the recovery in demand over September-October, and the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel’s assessment, for example, averaged Yuan 5,320/tonne ($825/t) including the 13% VAT, or up Yuan 77/t on month.
Source:Mysteel Global
