Posted on 04 Jan 2022
Over December 24-30, the blast furnace capacity utilization rate among China's 247 steel mills under Mysteel's survey inched up for the second week, rising by another 1.46 percentage points on week to 75.79%, as some steel producers in East China resumed their operations after maintenance stoppages, Mysteel noted.
During the same survey period, these 247 surveyed mills produced 2.03 million tonnes/day of molten iron in total on average, also up 39,900 t/d on week, and their BF operational rate also reversed from the prior three weeks of dips, up 2.17 percentage points on week to 70.04%.
The moderate growth was because some BFs in the eastern part of China had been back on stream after the scheduled maintenance, according to a Shanghai-based market analyst.
Accordingly, over December 24-30, daily consumption of imported iron ore among the 247 surveyed steel mills reversed from the previous on-week decline, up 53,200 t/d to total 2.53 million t/d on average.
By December 30, inventories of imported iron ore in all forms at the 247 surveyed mills including ore sitting at steelworks, port stockyards and on the water edged up for the third week by another 1.71 million tonnes on week to 109.8 million tonnes.
The total tonnage would be sufficient for 43.42 days of their consumption, or 0.24 day shorter on week, as many steelmakers, especially those who were free from any additional production curbs, have replenished some small quantities for the upcoming Chinese New year holiday, Mysteel Global noted.
Source:Mysteel Global
