Posted on 15 Feb 2022
Rebar production among the 137 Chinese steel producers under Mysteel's tracking fell for the fourth straight week over February 3-9, down by 116,200 tonnes or 4.5% on week to total 2.44 million tonnes, a near two-year low, according to Mysteel's weekly survey.
Most mini-mills had already halted their operations ahead of the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday (over January 31-February 6) and their production was yet to recover during the survey week. In contrast, while many integrated mills operated normally during the CNY break, production among many in North China decreased sharply towards the end of the holiday in response to production restrictions imposed on them to improve air quality during the Winter Olympic Games being held in and around Beijing over February 4-20, Mysteel Global notes.
The majority of domestic mini-mills will resume normal production around the Chinese Lantern Festival on February 15 (regarded by many in China as the unofficial end to CNY festivities), so steel output may recover moderately. However, the growth will be limited due to the ongoing curbs, survey respondents predict.
As of February 9, rebar rolling capacity utilization among the surveyed producers had decreased by 2.6 percentage points on week to 53.5%, while the operational rate of the rolling mills at the surveyed makers lost by 1.6 percentage points to 41%, both according to Mysteel's surveys.
Chinese steel market sentiment stayed generally optimistic last week, and the country's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a barometer of the steel-market mood, had hit a three-month high of Yuan 5,032/tonne ($791.5/t) including the 13% VAT as of February 11, or jumping by Yuan 215/t from the level on January 30, according to Mysteel's assessment.
Rebar inventories at the Chinese steel mills and among the trading houses under Mysteel's monitoring continued growing last week. By February 9, the volume at the 137 surveyed mills rose for the third straight week, up 1.9% or 62,100 tonnes to 3.25 million tonnes, and the tonnage at the commercial warehouses in the 35 Chinese cities mounted for the sixth consecutive week as of February 10, up 11.9% or 835,900 tonnes to 7.85 million tonnes.
Table 1: Rebar Production Survey by Region by Feb 9
Table 2: Wire Rod Production Survey by Region by Feb 9
Table 3: Rebar Production Survey by Process by Feb 9
Table 4: Wire Rod Production Survey by Process by Feb 9
Table 5: Mills' Rebar and Wire Rod Stocks by Region by Feb 9
Table 6: Rebar and Wire Rod Stocks Survey by Process by Feb 9
Source:Mysteel Global
