Posted on 21 Oct 2024
Daily crude steel output among the member mills of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) rose further during October 1-10, edging higher by 1.7% or 35,000 tonnes/day from late September to average 2.05 million t/d, according to the association's release on Thursday. Market sources attributed the rise in daily output to these mills ramping up production in a bid to capitalise on sustained profits.
However, early October's daily crude steel output was still lower by 1.6% from the corresponding period last year, the CISA data indicated.
Based on the performance of its member mills, CISA estimated the country's daily crude steel output during this month's first ten-day period at 2.6 million t/d, rising by 1.7% from September 21-30, according to the release.
The enthusiasm of Chinese mills for cranking up production was clearly sparked by the healthy profit margins available during early October, as Mysteel's latest survey suggests. The findings show that among the 247 Chinese blast-furnace mills it tracks nationwide, some 71.43% of them enjoyed positive earnings from steel sales as of October 10, over one-third more than were making money when last surveyed on October 3.
In contrast to the uptick in steel production, demand from end-users during the survey period showed only limited improvement, with 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 averaging just 131,530 tonnes/day in early October, down 9.9% from the average for the last ten days of September.
Slack steel consumption also saw finished steel stocks at CISA's member mills mount by 3.2% or 450,000 tonnes from September 30 to reach 14.7 million tonnes as of October 10. The total was lower by 10% from the same period last year though, according to the association.
Source:Mysteel Global
