Posted on 23 Feb 2022
Over February 10-16, total production of hot-rolled coil (HRC) among the 37 Chinese flat steelmakers under Mysteel's tracking reversed from two weeks of declines to reach 3 million tonnes, mainly due to the production resumption among steelmakers in Central China, according to market sources.
During the latest survey period, China's HRC output gained 30,700 tonnes or 1% on week, and the rolling capacity utilization rate at these surveyed mills grew accordingly by 0.78 percentage point on week to 77.03%.
Some steelmakers in Central China had recently resumed production after conducting maintenance stoppages, which led to the growth in output, according to a Shanghai-based source. He added that some mills in North China are also resuming production this week, with the close of Winter Olympics on February 20.
However, demand from end-users remained dull last week, mainly due to the resurgence of the COVID-19 cases across China, the source shared.
The growing HRC output and sluggish demand from end-users had dragged down Chinese HRC prices, he noted. As of February 18, China's domestic price of Q235 4.75mm HRC under Mysteel's assessment lost by Yuan 118/tonne ($18.6/t) on week to Yuan 5,007/t including the 13% VAT.
On the other hand, hot coil stocks at the commercial warehouses in the 33 Chinese cities under Mysteel's survey surged by 95,800 tonnes or 3.5% on week to 2.8 million tonnes as of February 17. The new deliveries of hot coils and weak downstream demand had both led to the accumulation in stocks, the source noted.
Meanwhile, hot coil inventories held by the 37 surveyed steelmakers also gained by 4,000 tonnes on week to 963,300 tonnes as of February 16.
Source:Mysteel Global
