Posted on 10 Apr 2024
China's total production of crude stainless steel reversed up in March after the continuous decrease over the prior six months to reach 3.16 million tonnes, soaring by 610,300 tonnes or 24% from February, according to Mysteel's latest monthly survey among 43 stainless producers nationwide. Compared with March last year the total was also higher by 13%, the survey results showed.
Production of all types of stainless increased by varying degrees, with the volume of 300-series stainless seeing the sharpest on-month rise of 26.7% last month, the data indicate.
Stainless output among China's 43 mills in March (Unit: tonnes)
Product | Mar | MoM(%) | YoY(%) |
200-series | 931,400 | 26.22% | 10.42% |
300-series | 1,678,700 | 26.7% | 14.95% |
400-series | 546,900 | 13.02% | 10.75% |
Total | 3,157,000 | 23.96% | 12.84% |
Source: Mysteel
The significant rise in stainless output occurred mainly because many Chinese steelmakers resumed operations in March after completing maintenance on their steelmaking facilities, survey respondents said. The mills were expecting that the peak period for steel consumption in March would drive a recovery in stainless demand from users, Mysteel Global noted.
However, as the recovery in stainless demand has fallen short of expectations, stainless inventories at traders' warehouses have stayed high, putting more pressure on domestic stainless prices.
As of March 29, the spot price of 304/2B Hongwang 2*1240mm stainless cold-rolled coil in Wuxi under Mysteel's assessment came in at Yuan 13,450/tonne ($1,859/t) in-warehouse and including the 13% VAT, falling by Yuan 850/t from the end of February.
By end-March, Mysteel's sampling of total stainless inventories at the 50 warehouses in Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu and the 28 in South China's Guangdong -- the country's two core stainless trading hubs – totalled 1.04 million tonnes, down by only 3,735 tonnes or 0.4% compared with one month earlier, according to Mysteel's weekly survey.
For this month, stainless output among the surveyed mills is expected to keep stable overall at 3.16 million tonnes, edging up 0.1% on month, according to Mysteel's estimate.
Last month, combined output of crude stainless at steel mills in Indonesia operated by Chinese makers Tsingshan Holding Group and Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry Co reached 426,000 tonnes, lower by 5.2% on month, Mysteel's survey showed. Their production for April is expected to grow slightly by 0.9% on month to 430,000 tonnes.
Source:Mysteel Global
