Posted on 15 Apr 2025
Production of hot-rolled coils (HRC) among the 37 Chinese flat steel producers Mysteel regularly monitors totalled 3.13 million tonnes over April 3-9, down by another 94,000 tonnes or 2.9% on week, the results of Mysteel's latest production survey show.
The hot-rolling capacity utilization rate among these sampled mills also edged lower by 2.4 percentage points to average 80.04% during the same period, the results indicated.
Behind the on-week cutback in HRC output was the fact that some steelmakers in North and East China halted hot strip mills to conduct maintenance during the week, survey respondents explained.
Global commodities markets including China's ferrous sector were rattled by U.S. President Trump's sweeping tariff moves last week, dampening sentiment in the Chinese hot-rolled coil market and leading to falling prices and slowing demand.
Under risk aversion, even though many hot coil sellers chose to lower quotations to promote transactions, the actual trading activities were still subdued during the survey period, market watchers observed.
As of April 11, China's national price of Q235 4.75mm HRC under Mysteel's assessment slipped to Yuan 3,337/tonne ($456/t) including the VAT, down by 2.1% from April 3, the last working day before the country's Qingming Festival holiday.
Similarly, the Shanghai Futures Exchange's most-traded HRC futures contract for October delivery slumped by 3.5% from April 3, closing the daytime trading session at Yuan 3,242/t by April 11.
Declining orders also witnessed a rise in HRC inventories held by the 37 surveyed mills, with the tonnage gaining 1.1% on week to reach 862,300 tonnes by April 10, according to Mysteel's tracking.
Meanwhile, HRC stocks held by traders at commercial warehouses in the 33 Chinese cities that Mysteel monitors nationwide inched down by 1% on week to 2.98 million tonnes by April 10, narrowing from the prior week's 3.1% destocking.
Source:Mysteel Global
