Posted on 19 Jun 2023
Total production of hot-rolled coils among the 37 Chinese flat steelmakers under Mysteel's regular tracking retreated over June 8-14, edging down by 12,400 tonnes or 0.4% on week to reach 3.12 million tonnes after a brief increase in the prior week.
Some steel mills in Northwest China halted production for maintenance works, leading to the decline in the overall output, according to the survey.
During the same survey period, the monitored mills' hot-rolling capacity utilization rate also dropped by 0.32 percentage point on week to 79.8%, Mysteel's tracking data showed.
Meanwhile, China's national price of Q235 4.75mm HRC grew by Yuan 47/tonne ($7.7/t) on week to Yuan 3,912/t including the 13% VAT as of June 15, according to Mysteel's assessment.
Many traders gained confidence and lifted their offering prices after noting the rise in HRC futures prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, a Shanghai-based analyst said.
The SHFE's most-traded HRC contract for October delivery gained by Yuan 111/t from the settlement price on June 8 to settle at Yuan 3,861/t when ending the daytime trading session on June 15.
The lower-than-expected HRC stocks at the warehouses nationwide also gave a boost to domestic hot coil prices during the slack period for steel consumption, the analyst commented.
HRC stocks at trading houses across the 33 cities under Mysteel's tracking hovered low at 2.65 million tonnes as of June 15, despite a tiny on-week rise of 900 tonnes or 0.03%.
HRC inventories held by the 37 surveyed mills Mysteel tracks had increased to 888,300 tonnes as of June 14, up by 1,400 tonnes or 0.2% from one week earlier. Some steelmakers who just resumed production recently were yet to accelerate deliveries, resulting in an increase in stocks at the mills, the analyst noted.
Source:Mysteel Global
