Posted on 29 Oct 2024
Production of hot-rolled coils (HRC) among the 37 Chinese flat steel producers Mysteel regularly monitors totalled 3.04 million tonnes during the week of October 17-23, lower by a small 9,000 tonnes or 0.29% on week, the results of Mysteel's weekly production survey show.
The hot-rolling capacity utilization rate among the 37 mills also dipped by 0.23 percentage point to average 77.76% during the same period, the survey found.
Behind the decrease of HRC output was the fact that some steel mills in South China had diverted their hot metal from producing coils to rebar during the survey period, market watchers observed.
Regarding transactions, HRC buyers were still cautious and just bought sufficient quantities of the flat product during the survey week to meet their immediate needs.
With month-end approaching, most steel traders last week chose to lower their HRC quotations to reach deals in order to reduce risks and secure funds, sources noted.
As of October 24, HRC stocks held by the 37 surveyed mills had eased by 1.96% on week to 803,300 tonnes. By the same day, inventories of the flat product at the commercial warehouses Mysteel monitors in 33 Chinese cities nationwide had also decreased, falling by 4.88% on week to sit at 2.74 million tonnes.
As for domestic prices, China's spot price of Q235 4.75mm HRC under Mysteel's assessment stood at Yuan 3,534/tonne ($495.65/t) including the VAT by October 25, down by a tiny 0.08% from one week earlier.
On the same day, however, the Shanghai Futures Exchange's most-traded HRC futures contract for January delivery had gained 0.83% on week to close at Yuan 3,540/t by the time the daytime trading session ended.
Source:Mysteel Global
