Posted on 14 Sep 2023
Daily crude steel output among the member mills of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) reversed up during the first ten days of September, rising by 5.5% or 113,200 tonnes/day from late August to reach 2.16 million t/d on average, or higher by 2.9% on year, according to the latest data released by CISA on Tuesday.
Behind the large rise in daily output was the fact that domestic steel mills maintained their hot metal output at high levels with their production enthusiasm boosted by Beijing's stimulus measures to lift the property sector and market expectations for better downstream demand in September - a traditional peak season for steel consumption, sources commented.
Based on the performance of its member mills, CISA estimated the country's daily crude steel output at 2.93 million t/d for early September, rebounding by 3.7% from August 21-31.
CISA's estimation also roughly matched Mysteel's survey among the 247 blast-furnace and 87 electric-arc-furnace mills it regularly surveyed which showed that these mills' daily crude steel production gained by 0.7% or 20,200 t/d over September 1-10 from late August to average 3.04 million t/d.
As of September 10, their higher output saw finished steel stocks at the association's member mills mount by 7.3% or 1.1 million tonnes from August-end to 15.8 million tonnes, though this result was lower by 7.4% from the corresponding period last year, according to the release.
China's domestic steel prices had been firming in early September, supported by the persisting high prices of steelmaking materials. For example, the country's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, an indicator of the domestic steel market sentiment, rose Yuan 23/tonne ($3.2/t) from that on August 31 to Yuan 3,799/t including the 13% VAT as of September 8, according to Mysteel's assessment.
However, actual steel demand from end-users had not lived up to market expectations, with the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses Mysteel canvasses averaging 140,764 t/d, falling by 7,655 t/d or 5.2% from late August.
Source:Mysteel Global
