Posted on 19 May 2023
Total production of rebars across China reached 77.3 million tonnes during January-April, rising by 1.2% on year, according to the latest data from the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on May 18. Among the total, 21.1 million tonnes were produced during April alone, some 2.1% higher on year, though lower by 9.4% on month, Mysteel Global calculated based on the NBS data.
Mysteel's survey on the rebar rolling capacity utilization rate among the 137 Chinese steelmakers it tracks was in sync with the NBS result, with the run-rate last month averaging 64.7%, slipping by 1.6 percentage points on month.
Behind the on-month fall in rebar output were the production curtailments of many electric-arc-furnace mills struggling with thinning profit margins on rebar sales and the slower-than-expected recovery in demand from building contractors, a market source said.
Moreover, many domestic blast-furnace (BF) mills had also commenced maintenance on their steelmaking facilities or suspended production in response to the persistent softening of finished steel prices, he added.
As of April 28, China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel's assessment, had plunged by Yuan 415/tonne ($59.1/t) from the end of March to Yuan 3,877/t including the 13% VAT.
In parallel, during April the average loss on rebar sales suffered by the 91 BF producers nationwide under Mysteel's regular tracking reached Yuan 137/t, deepening by Yuan 88/t on month.
Domestic steel demand was weaker than market participants had expected last month, with the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 Chinese steel trading houses Mysteel follows averaging only 163,552 tonnes/day, sliding 4.9% on month.
On the other hand, China's finished steel output totalled 119.95 million tonnes during April, climbing by 5% on year, the NBS data show. In fact, during the past four months, output had increased by 5.2% on year to 446.36 million tonnes, according to the data.
Source:Mysteel Global
