NBS: China’s Nov pig iron output down 5.9% on month
Source: Mysteel
Dec 14, 2018 17:00
“The slow-down in pig iron in November was attributed to a few factors such as the softening in the domestic steel prices, emergency restrictions on some steel mills in North China amid serious air pollution, and the affection on the steel mills’ operations in East China until mid-November because of the China International Import Expo (CIIE) over November 5-10,” a Shanghai-based analyst commented.
As of November 30, Mysteel’s national average HRB 400 20mm dia rebar benchmark price had dived from its year’s high of Yuan 4,728/tonne ($688/t) on November 1 to Yuan 4,006/t on November 30, both including 16% VAT, according to Mysteel’s price data.
In November, China’s crude steel output declined on month too, down 6% from October to 76.62 million tonnes, suggesting a rather dismal market situation last month, as reported.
“That said, the reduction in November pig iron output was not as substantial as last year when the production abruptly fell into a negative growth when most steel mills in North China, especially those in Hebei province, were requested to restrict their blast furnace capacity utilization by half over November 2017-March 2018, the first year China adopted the winter restriction,” he added.
In November 2017, China’s pig iron output posted a 3.5% year-on-year decline for the first time since June 2016, according to the NBS data.
Mysteel’s weekly survey on the ironmaking capacity utilization among the 163 blast-furnace steel producers nationwide matched the trends illustrated by the NBS data, which also receded by 1.85 percentage point over October 26-November 29 to 76.65%, though it was 4.69 percentage points higher than a year ago.
Written by Victoria Zou, zyongjia@mysteel.com
Edited byHongmei Li, li.hongmei@mysteel.com
You May Also Like
NBS: China's 2022 pig iron output dips 0.8% YoY
Jan 17, 2023 17:00
India: Merchant pig iron production falls 11% in FY'21
Jun 11, 2021 08:30
JSW Steel lowers iron ore sourcing by 18% in Oct'20
Nov 20, 2020 10:00
India: JSW iron ore sourcing down 17% in Q1 FY21
Jul 20, 2020 11:00
Indian finished steel export volume triple in Q1 FY'21
Jul 07, 2020 11:00