Posted on 20 Dec 2024
Crude steel production among China's top ten steelmaking provinces and autonomous regions totalled 664.64 million tonnes for the January-November period, down by 2.22% on year, with seven out of the ten recording on-year declines in output, according to the latest data from the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
China's overall steel demand and prices continued to weaken in November as deep winter set in across much of the country, casting a shadow over steel mills' crude steel production, Mysteel Global noted.
For example, the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses under Mysteel's regular tracking averaged 115,628 tonnes/day in November, plunging by 23.69% from the November 2023 average.
Meanwhile, China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel's assessment, a pointer to domestic steel-market sentiment, averaged Yuan 3,499/tonne ($479.41/t) including the 13% VAT last month, plummeting by 12.79% on year.
However, for November alone, crude steel production among these top ten bases edged up by 3.4% on year to 55.29 million tonnes, with five reporting on-year increases, the NBS data showed.
Despite the market's sluggish during winter, some steelmakers managed to stay profitable compared with the same period last year, which enticed them to quicken their pace of production, sources said.
In November, among the 247 Chinese blast furnace mills under Mysteel's tracking, some 141 companies or 56.97% said they were earning some profits last month, compared with only 26.51% of the same 247 companies – about 65 mills – earning profits in November last year.
Prominently, a low base in November last year allowed East China's Jiangsu province to show the largest on-year increase last month, with the region's crude steel output in November surging by 19.12% on year to reach 9.97 million tonnes.
Table-1 Jan-Nov steel output among China's top 10 steel-producing hubs
Ranking | Province/Autonomous Region | Volume (mln t) | Y-o-Y (%) |
1 | Hebei | 186.96 | -6.42 |
2 | Jiangsu | 110.18 | -1.99 |
3 | Shandong | 67.56 | -2.21 |
4 | Liaoning | 64.64 | -4.42 |
5 | Shanxi | 56.24 | -4.97 |
6 | Guangxi | 41.51 | 9.50 |
7 | Guangdong | 37.26 | 10.11 |
8 | Anhui | 34.52 | -3.79 |
9 | Fujian | 33.95 | 11.06 |
10 | Hubei | 31.82 | -4.84 |
Total |
| 664.64 | -2.22 |
Source: NBS
Table-2 Nov steel output among China's top 10 steel-producing hubs
Ranking | Province/Autonomous Region | Volume (mln t) | Y-o-Y (%) |
1 | Hebei | 13.60 | -3.20 |
2 | Jiangsu | 9.97 | 19.12 |
3 | Liaoning | 5.78 | -0.52 |
4 | Shandong | 5.70 | -0.35 |
5 | Shanxi | 4.70 | 13.53 |
6 | Guangxi | 3.34 | -4.57 |
7 | Fujian | 3.28 | 13.49 |
8 | Anhui | 3.18 | 0.63 |
9 | Guangdong | 3.01 | -7.67 |
10 | Inner Mongolia | 2.73 | 6.23 |
Total |
| 55.29 | 3.40 |
Source: NBS
Source:Mysteel Global
