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China’s steel export market remained tepid last week, even though the price gaps between Chinese sellers and their major competitors narrowed, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly report. By contrast, Chinese interest in imports, especially those of wire rod, became more active, trader sources say.
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The Q235 150mm square billet price in Tangshan, the country’s top steel producing city in North China’s Hebei province, declined by Yuan 50/tonne ($7.8/t) on week to Yuan 5,250/t EXW and including the 13% VAT as of October 15, according to Mysteel’s assessment. Market insiders attributed the price declines to poor billet trading.
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Both the Tangshan Q235 150mm square billet price and China’s national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar fell in Mysteel’s latest assessment, with the former down Yuan 50/tonne ($7.8/t) on October 17 against last Friday, and the latter down Yuan 2/t on day on October 15, both due to poor trading, according to market sources.
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Chinese steel export volumes remained tepid during and after the National Day holiday week over October 1-7, market sources said on October 12. Steel export prices continue to gain in tandem with rising domestic steel prices, making exporting even harder, they said.
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As of October 7, the Q235 150mm square billet price in Tangshan hit a new high since May 19, reaching Yuan 5,290/tonne ($821/t) EXW and including the 13% VAT, or up Yuan 80/t from September 30, as demand had picked up with the resumption of operations among local steel re-rollers while supply had shrunk, Mysteel’s first assessment after the National Day holiday over October 1-7 showed.
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Chinese steel exports have stayed slack recently partly due to the low demand from major buying countries and the difficulties in chartering vessels for the shipments, industry insiders shared on Monday.
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As of September 24, Tangshan Q235 150mm square billet price under Mysteel’s assessment reversed from four consecutive weeks of increases, down Yuan 40/tonne ($6.2/t) on week to Yuan 5,170/t EXW and including the 13% VAT, as demand shrank from local steel re-rollers, Mysteel’s latest survey gathered.
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As of September 26, China’s national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel’s assessment stayed unchanged at Yuan 5,751/tonne ($889/t) including the 13% VAT after a Yuan 27/t on-day fall last Friday, though daily trading volume of construction steel recovered strongly by nearly 23% from September 24 partly due to the pre-holiday replenishment.
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Softer flat-steel markets at home and abroad saw Chinese export prices of hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) reverse down last week after rising for the two prior weeks, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly report.
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Tangshan Q235 150mm square billet price under Mysteel’s assessment appeared resilient as of September 18, or up for the fourth week though by just Yuan 10/tonne ($1.5/t) to Yuan 5,210/t EXW and including the 13% VAT, despite that demand had shown signs of waning on re-rollers’ thinning margins or lossmaking, market sourced noted.
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Over September 13-17, China’s prices of rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC), the two popular carbon steel finished steel products, showed signs of diverging in the spot market, though both their futures prices reversed from several weeks of strengthening, indicating the struggling of market sentiment amid probably lower output while also softening in demand in the near or longer term, Mysteel Global noted.
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On September 15, the China Association of Metalscrap Utilization (CAMU) shared the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for the country’s steel scrap industry that had been agreed among the members, among which some key criteria have been listed to help promote eco-friendly, efficient and sustainable development in the country’s steel industry, according to various media reports including China Metallurgical News.
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Export prices of major Chinese steel products remained generally firm last week, after two consecutive weeks of increases. In contrast, steel prices in the international market declined by $20-40/t last week, causing China-origin steel items to lose more of their price competitiveness, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly report.
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Billet inventories in Tangshan city, the top billet supply base in North China’s Hebei province, declined rapidly last week thanks to strong local consumption demand, Mysteel’s latest weekly surveys indicated.
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China’s steel prices in both spot and futures markets showed signs of continuing strengthening over September 6-10, as steel output curbs had been intensified in many regions so as to help realize lower steel output for the whole year of 2021, while steel demand from traders and end-users had been improving though fluctuation continued, Mysteel Global noted.
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As of September 10, China’s national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar assessed by Mysteel reached the highest since May 20, hitting Yuan 5,525/tonne ($858/t) including the 13% VAT or up for the second day by another Yuan 63/t, mainly on the growing market confidence with intensified production curbs in some regions and the remaining expectation on better demand in the coming days.
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Chinese steel export activity remained dull last week, because demand from the ASEAN region, the major destination for Chinese steel, remained slack even though some countries are gradually relaxing virus-response measures, Mysteel’s latest weekly report shows.
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Daily consumption of billet across Mysteel’s survey sample of 55 steel re-rollers in Tangshan, China’s top billet production base, averaged 112,400 tonnes/day over August 26-September 1 – more than double the volume over August 19-25 – as local steel re-rollers actively resumed operations last week as soon as they were allowed, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey.
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China’s steel prices including rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC) in the spot and futures markets strengthened over August 30-September 3, as steel production cuts have been adopted in more regions while domestic demand showed signs of continuing pick-up albeit at a slow pace, Mysteel Global noted.
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China’s spot steel prices stayed on the uptrend last Friday and over the weekend, and spot steel transaction among China’s 237 traders grew for the third day and up substantially by 33.2% on day as of September 3, both according to Mysteel’s tracking, suggesting that demand might have entered its autumn peak consumption season.
