Posted on 24 Mar 2023
Daily crude steel production among the member mills of the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) rebounded by 4.7% or 101,400 tonnes/day from early March to a near nine-month high of 2.25 million t/d on average over March 11-20, the association's latest data showed. Behind the rise in daily output was the fact that many mills lifted production during the ten-day period to enjoy improved profits, sources said.
Based on its member mills' performance, CISA estimated the country's daily crude steel output at 2.73 million t/d for the middle ten days of March, higher by 4.3% from March 1-10.
Mysteel's survey among a larger group of 247 blast-furnace and 87 electric-arc-furnace makers matched CISA's findings, as daily crude steel output during mid-March averaged 2.98 million t/d, also hitting a nine-month high. This result was higher by 1.1% or 33,100 t/d from that for the first ten days of March, as reported.
Chinese steel prices showed signs of softening mid-month due to the skittish market sentiment created by the banking crises in the U.S. and Switzerland. For example, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel's assessment declined by Yuan 38/tonne ($5.6/t) from that on March 10 to reach Yuan 4,349/t including the 13% VAT as of March 20.
Bearish sentiment also led to the fall-off in spot steel sales over the same period, with trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses Mysteel samples averaging 166,201 t/d over March 11-20, down 9.4% or 17,199 t/d from the previous ten days.
Meanwhile, lower steel sales saw finished steel stocks at the association's member mills swell by a further 7.1% or 1.3 million tonnes from March 10 to settle at about 19 million tonnes as of March 20, CISA's data showed.
Source:Mysteel Global
