Posted on 18 Mar 2025
Production of hot-rolled coils (HRC) among the 37 Chinese flat steel producers Mysteel regularly monitors totalled 3.29 million tonnes during the week to March 12, rising by 71,000 tonnes or 2.3% on week and rebounding after a three-week losing streak, the results of Mysteel's production survey show.
The hot-rolling capacity utilization rate among the sampled mills also rose by 1.82 percentage points to average 81.41% during the same period, the results indicated.
Mainly responsible for the on-week increase in hot coil output were some steel mills in North China that resumed hot strip mill operations during the survey week, respondents noted.
During last week, as the flurry anti-dumping investigations announced by major consuming countries temporarily abated, the focus of China's HRC market gradually shifted back to fundamentals, market watchers noted.
On one hand, recent declines in steelmaking raw material prices have helped steelmakers recover their profitability, encouraging them to resume production. On the other hand, increased restocking and speculative demand for HRC from buyers provided support for the flat product's prices, they explained.
As of March 14, China's national price of Q235 4.75mm HRC under Mysteel's assessment had firmed by 0.6% on week to reach Yuan 3,448/tonne ($476/t) including the VAT.
On the same day, the Shanghai Futures Exchange's most-traded HRC futures contract for May delivery rose by 2.4% on week to close the daytime trading session at Yuan 3,443/t.
By March 13, HRC inventories held by the 37 surveyed mills had eased further by 4.2% on week to 843,200 tonnes. Meanwhile, those held by traders at commercial warehouses in the 33 Chinese cities that Mysteel monitors nationwide had also fallen by 2.6% on week to 3.32 million tonnes as of the same day.
Source:Mysteel Global
