Posted on 16 Oct 2023
Daily crude steel output among the member mills of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) recovered during October 1-10 by a small 0.8% or 16,600 tonnes/day from the previous ten days to average 2.08 million t/d, according to the association's release on October 12. Market sources attributed the rise in daily output to some of CISA's member mills resuming production after finishing maintenance stoppages.
However, early October's daily crude steel output was still lower by 1.2% from the corresponding period last year, the CISA data showed.
Based on the performance of its member mills, CISA estimated the country's daily crude steel output at 2.71 million t/d during this month's first ten-day period, rising by 0.7% from September 21-30, according to the release.
China's domestic steel prices had softened in early October as demand proved to be weaker than market participants had expected for autumn, as reported.
As of October 10, the country's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of domestic steel-market sentiment, was assessed by Mysteel at a one-month low of Yuan 3,800/tonne ($520/t) including the 13% VAT, down by Yuan 41/t from that on September 28.
Meanwhile, the spot trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 Chinese trading houses under Mysteel's tracking averaged just 139,916 tonnes/day during early October, falling by 7.7% from the average for the last ten days of September.
The uptick in steel output and low steel consumption also saw finished steel stocks at CISA's member mills reverse up by 7.3% or 1.1 million tonnes from September 30 to reach 16.4 million tonnes by October 10. The total was also higher by 0.3% from the same period last year, according to the association.
Source:Mysteel Global
