Posted on 13 Apr 2023
China's blast-furnace steel mills continued to lose money on rebar sales in March, mainly owing to their increased production costs brought on by higher raw material prices, according to Mysteel's latest monthly survey among 91 sampled blast furnace steel producers nationwide.
The surveyed Chinese mills suffered heavier losses on rebar sales last month, with the average loss reaching Yuan 49/tonne ($7.1/t), deepening by Yuan 25/t from that for February, the survey showed.
For March, the cost for making hot metal among the 91 surveyed mills averaged Yuan 3,096/t excluding the 13% VAT, up another Yuan 4/t or 0.1% on month, mainly due to the growth in imported iron ore prices, Mysteel Global noted.
The finding showed that Mysteel SEADEX 62% Australian Fines index registered $127/dmt CFR Qingdao in March, gaining $2/dmt from the previous month, while the price of second grade metallurgical coke in North China under Mysteel's assessment dipped by Yuan 1/t on month to average Yuan 2,688/t.
China's rebar prices retreated in the second half of last month as demand from end-users was not so strong as expected during the traditional peak season for steel consumption, though spot transactions had recovered somewhat compared with the prior month.
The national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of domestic steel-market sentiment, was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 4,292/t including the 13% VAT as of March 31, losing by Yuan 15/t from the end of February, or lower by Yuan 124/t compared with the recent high on March 14.
Last month, the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the country's 237 traders under Mysteel's tracking averaged 172,029 tonnes/day, higher by 37,606 t/d on month, but it was still well below the average of more than 200,000 t/d for the peak season.
However, Chinese steel producers achieved some profits on flat steel sales in March thanks to the rising prices of these products, with their average profit on sales of hot-rolled coil reaching Yuan 26/t as against the loss of Yuan 13/t in February, and that on sales of medium plate also gained Yuan 45/t on month to register Yuan 20/t, according to the survey.
As of March 31, the national price of Q235 4.75mm HRC was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 4,423/t including the 13% VAT, higher by Yuan 98/t from one month before.
Source:Mysteel Global
