Posted on 16 Apr 2024
Output of hot-rolled coils (HRC) among 37 Chinese flat steel producers Mysteel regularly monitors reversed down last week from the rises of the five previous weeks, declining 42,600 tonnes or 1.3% on week during April 8-12 to total 3.21 million tonnes, Mysteel'slatest weekly production survey shows.
The hot-rolling capacity utilization rate among the 37 mills also ended the prior five weeks of gains to average 82.09% last week, lower by 1.09 percentage points on week, the survey found.
Behind the on-week decline was the fact that some steel producers in East China halted hot strip mills and some upstream facilities for maintenance during the sample period, survey respondents said.
Meanwhile, total hot coil stocks at the 37 surveyed mills moved lower by 0.9% on week to 878,300 tonnes as of April 11, a consequence of the maintenance stops and the fact that some steelmakers in North China lifted the pace of their HRC deliveries last week.
Besides, hot coilspurchasing among end-users remained steady last week, though most purchases were for immediate use. This also saw HRC stocks at commercial warehouses in the 33 Chinese cities under Mysteel's tracking fall by another 1.62% on week to 3.32 million tonnes.
Overall, the futures prices of major ferrous commodities across China including hot coils, iron ore and coke all strengthened last week. By April 12, the Shanghai Futures Exchange's most-traded HRC futures contract for October delivery finally closed the daytime trading session at Yuan 3,779/tonne ($522.06/t), higher by Yuan 84/t or 2.27% from the April 8 settlement price.
As of the same day, China's spot price of Q235 4.75mm hot-rolled coil under Mysteel's assessment had also gained Yuan 37/t or 0.99% from April 8 to reach Yuan 3,791/t including the VAT.
Source:Mysteel Global
