Posted on 22 Sep 2021
Over September 10-16, blast furnace capacity utilization rate among China’s 247 steel mills under Mysteel’s survey fell to a new low since the start of July, down for the second week by another 1.03 percentage points on week to 83.74%, as more Chinese steel mills especially those in Jiangsu of East China had deepened their cut on their finished and crude steel output.
Over the latest survey period, these mills’ molten iron output decreased accordingly for the second week by 27,300 tonnes/day on week to 2.23 million t/d in total, and the operational rate of their blast furnaces under the survey dipped too for the second week by another 1.69 percentage point to 71.88% as of September 16.
“The decline in molten iron output was mainly from East China’s Jiangsu province, as more local steel mills have further trimmed their output recently upon the local government’s request,” a Shanghai-based market watcher remarked.
“Steel output from Jiangsu may be down further in the coming weeks as the local authority is under the pressure to reduce power use from power-intensive industrial enterprises,” he added.
Besides, some steel mills in North China also temporarily curtailed their blast furnace operations around September 15 to improve local air quality, as the opening ceremony of China's 14th National Games was held in Xi’an, Northwest China’s Shaanxi province, Mysteel Global noted from market sources.
As a result, these surveyed mills’ daily consumption of imported iron ore dropped by another 32,800 t/d on week to 2.73 million t/d on average during the latest survey period, according to Mysteel’s data, and weakening demand saw Mysteel SEADEX 62% Australian Fines down to a new low since July 7 2020, reaching $106.35/dmt CFR Qingdao or down $23.25/dmt on week.
By September 16, these mills’ imported iron ore inventories in all forms and including the volumes at steelworks, port stockyards and on the water, fell for the eighth straight week by another 604,700 tonnes to 103.4 million tonnes, a new low since mid-March 2020, though the volume would sufficient for around 37.86 days of consumption, or 0.23 day longer on week.
Over the latest survey period, Mysteel’s smaller-scale study on China’s 163 steel plants showed that their blast furnace capacity utilization rate nudged down for the third week by 0.52 percentage point on week to 67.56% as of September 16.
Source:Mysteel Global
