Posted on 19 Jul 2024
China's rebar production declined by 11.7% on year during the first half of this year to 102.4 million tonnes, according to the latest data released by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday. This result meant rebar accounted for 14.6% of the 701 million tonnes of finished steel products China produced in H1, Mysteel Global notes.
For June alone, China churned out 18.2 million tonnes of rebar, lower by 10.1% on year, according to NBS, though this number represented a 1.4% gain from May, Mysteel Global calculated.
Meanwhile, finished steel output across China amounted to 125.5 million tonnes last month, up 3.2% on year, the NBS data showed.
Market sources attributed the on-month uptick in rebar output during June to the fact that many Chinese integrated mills had maintained their production at high levels last month.
The rebar rolling capacity utilization rate among the 137 Chinese steel mills that Mysteel regularly tracks was also in line with the NBS result, as their average run rate had edged up 0.1 percentage point on month to 51.6% in June. This was lower by 8 percentage points from the same period last year, however.
On the other hand, China's spot rebar prices lost ground last month, with the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, for example, slumping by Yuan 204/tonne ($28.1/t) on month to Yuan 3,626/t and including the 13% VAT as of June 28, according to Mysteel's assessment. The market had been weighed down by the persistent weak demand from users, as reported.
The daily trading volume of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 Chinese steel trading houses Mysteel monitors averaged 119,412 tonnes/day during June, falling by some 13,399 t/d or 10.1% from the May average, as summer heat and incessant rainfalls across many parts of the country had continued to slow steel consumption.
Meanwhile, spot rebar prices failed to source much support from the raw materials side, with the Mysteel SEADEX 62% Australian Fines index for iron ore for example, softening by $8.4/dmt on month to $106.6/dmt CFR Qingdao by June 28.
Source:Mysteel Global
