Posted on 23 Feb 2022
Daily crude steel output among the member mills of the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) reversed down over the first ten days of February, falling by 4.5% or 90,100 tonnes/day from late January to an average of 1.92 million t/d, according to the latest data released by the association on February 22.
CISA tracks its member mills' steel production three times a month, and based on the latest result, it calculated that daily crude steel output nationwide averaged 2.52 million t/d over February 1-10, or down by 1.6% from the last 11 days of January.
Despite the lower output, finished steel stocks at those member mills mounted further by 23.2% or 3.2 million tonnes from January 31 to reach 16.9 million tonnes as of February 10. This was also 49.2% or 5.6 million tonnes higher than at the beginning of 2022.
Mysteel's survey among 247 blast-furnace (BF) and 71 electric-arc-furnace (EAF) steel producers suggested a similar trend over the same period, as their daily steel output in early February waned by 5.9% or 147,800 t/d from late January to average 2.35 million t/d - the lowest since Mysteel commenced the survey in January 2018.
Many BF steel producers in North China's Shanxi and Hebei, Central China's Henan and East China's Shandong were ordered to restrict production to enhance air quality due to the Winter Olympic Games being held in and around Beijing over February 4-20. In addition, most EAF steel mills had suspended production during the Chinese New Year holiday over January 31-February 6, Mysteel Global noted.
Chinese steel prices had moved up persistently after the holiday break, largely due to the positive market sentiment, with the country's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar for example, surging by Yuan 186/tonne ($29.3/t) from January 30 under Mysteel's assessment to hit a three-month high of Yuan 5,003/t including the 13% VAT as of February 10.
Source:Mysteel Global
