Posted on 18 Sep 2024
Daily crude steel output among the member mills of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) recovered during the first ten days of September, rising by 2.7% or 50,600 tonnes/day from late August to average 1.94 million t/d, according to the association's release on September 14. Market sources suggested the moderate improvement in their margins on steel sales had encouraged some mills to crank up their production slightly.
However, early September's daily crude steel output was still lower by some 10.3% from the same period last year, according to the release.
Based on the performance of its member mills, CISA estimated the country's total daily crude steel output at 2.63 million t/d over September 1-10, up 2% from the last 11 days of August.
Although China's domestic steel prices had softened in early September, the fall in prices of steelmaking raw materials had outpaced that of steel prices over the same period, Mysteel Global notes.
The country's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of domestic steel-market sentiment, was assessed by Mysteel at an average of Yuan 3,269/tonne ($461/t) during early September, falling by Yuan 30/t from the average over August 21-31.
In tandem, China's national composite coke index had declined by a larger Yuan 65/t during the same period to average Yuan 1,587/t.
As of September 12, some 6.1% of the 247 steelmakers under Mysteel's regular survey nationwide said they had earned some money on their steel sales, higher by 2.2 percentage points from those responding on August 29.
On the other hand, demand from end-users has not shown any substantial recovery so far this month, as the spot trading volume of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 Chinese trading houses under Mysteel's tracking averaged a mere 106,688 t/d over September 1-10, down 11.5% from late August's average.
Higher output and weak sales saw finished steel stocks at the association's member mills mount by 2.9% or 430,000 tonnes from August 31 to reach 14.97 million tonnes by September 10. The volume was lower by 5.3% or 830,000 tonnes from the corresponding period last year, the CISA data showed.
Source:Mysteel Global
