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China’s price of 60% ferromolybdenum (FeMo) in Northeast China, a key production and trading hub of the noble alloy, declined for the second week last week, down by Yuan 1,000/tonne ($154.6/t) on week to Yuan 103,000/t including the 13% VAT as of January 22. The overall market sentiment turned bearish during the past week and buying among steel mills was slack.
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Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (Baoshan Steel), the listed arm of China’s top steel producer - China Baowu Steel Group - announced to roll over its list prices of the carbon steel hot-rolled coil (HRC) for domestic sales in March, according to its pricing policy on January 25, as demand has shown signs of weakening ahead of the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday but production cost has persisted high.
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Since the start of 2021, China’s rebar export price has caught up with speed in strengthening, up $15/tonne on week or $30/t higher than the end of December, and the export volume has surged too, while the hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices has shown signs of waning after the earlier spree in December, Mysteel’s latest weekly report.
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The price of 60% ferromolybdenum (FeMo) in Northeast China, a key production hub for the ferroalloy, reversed down from an eight-month high on January 8, declining by Yuan 500/tonne ($77.2/t) on week to Yuan 104,000/t including the 13% VAT as of January 15, according to Mysteel’s assessment. The market was firmly in wait-to-see mode last week amid uncertainties brought about by the resurgence of the COVID-19 epidemic and with the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday less than four weeks away.
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The auto production among China’s 15 major automakers declined 27.4% on year to 523,000 units over January 1-10, according to the latest data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on January 14, which was mainly due to the growing shortage of auto semiconductors and the manufacturers’ relaxation on output at the start of the year, according to market sources.
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The price of 60% ferromolybdenum (FeMo) in Northeast China, a key production region for this noble alloy, touched its eight-month high of Yuan 104,500/tonne ($16,151/t) including the 13% VAT as of January 8, or up Yuan 4,500/t on week, mainly due to further rises in higher moly concentrates prices, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey.
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A rise in the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus recorded in North China’s Hebei province over the past few days is making steel producers, traders and raw materials suppliers in the province anxious, especially when the local authorities have quickly imposed restrictions on trucking in parts of the province – disrupting the transportation of both steel and raw materials – but the tangible impact on mill operations has been limited so far, market sources confirmed on Thursday.
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After over two years of steel scrap imports restrictions, the Chinese government, as widely expected, has reopened the door to overseas steel scrap starting January 1 together with the new adoption of the “recycled iron-steel raw materials” standards, according to an announcement from the country’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) on the last working day of 2020.
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Chinese export prices for both long and flat steel items surged at an even faster rate last week compared with previous weeks, reflecting the fact that domestic steel prices had hit multi-year highs earlier in the week. But Mysteel’s latest weekly survey shows that bid prices lodged by global buyers have been slow to catch up.
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The stocks of processed and unprocessed steel scrap held by China’s 291 licensed steel scrapyards had reversed up by 3.5% on month as of December 25, according to Mysteel’s latest survey. Chiefly responsible for the recovery were an increase in processing activity and the scrapyards’ determination to hold off selling in response to strengthening scrap prices.
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Sudden drops in temperature have hit most regions of China but the cold’s impact on steel demand has varied by region, market sources say of the chill. Raw materials transportation has been disrupted too though the effect so far has been limited, they said.
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Higher production costs led the price of 60% ferromolybdenum (FeMo) in Northeast China, a key production region for the alloy, to continue climbing last week. The price hit a near seven-month high of Yuan 10,300/tonne ($1,577.3/t) on December 22 and stayed at the threshold of Yuan 10,000/t until December 25, both including the 13% VAT. Buying became active last week after two quiet weeks, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly report.
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China’s Metallurgical Information and Standardization Institute (CMISI) that has participated in the formulation of the country’s new steel scrap standards, shared some explanation notes on some terms in the documentation on December 21, though the full and final copy of the guidelines is nowhere to be found yet.
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Like those globally, Chinese steel export prices have been on a steep upward track recently, but buyers are gradually finding the high offers increasingly unacceptable and are not placing new orders. Some steel traders in the international market reckon that prices are losing momentum for further growth as demand is expected to slow with the coming Christmas holiday.
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The price of 60% ferromolybdenum (FeMo) in Northeast China, the key production region for the alloy, rebounded by Yuan 1,000/tonne ($152.9/t) on week to Yuan 98,000/t including the 13% VAT as of December 18, after staying unchanged over the prior week. Higher production costs had supported the increase, while market transactions remained quiet last week.
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The most-traded rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) for delivery next May reversed up by Yuan 208/tonne ($31.8/t) or 5% from the settlement price on December 11 to end the daytime trading session at Yuan 4,316/t as of December 18. Market watchers said the price rebound reflected the optimistic outlook for demand next year held by most domestic market participants.
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China’s steel exports are expected to increase significantly during next quarter, with monthly volumes over January-March seen in the 5-5.5 million tonnes range, far higher than the average is 4.2 million t/m for October and November, according to a new Mysteel study published on December 17. Next quarter too, over 60% of exports will be of flat steel, due to strong overseas demand from manufacturers against a shortage of supply of flat products in international markets.
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A brief statement headed ‘Recycling iron-steel materials’ published on the website of China’s National Public Service Platform for Standards Information confirms that the much-awaited introduction of new classification standards for the country’s steel scrap sector will take place on January 1, 2021. News of the December 14 statement only filtered down to Chinese scrap dealers and steelmakers on Thursday after China’s Xinhua News Agency carried a short report.
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The fast recovery in global steel demand, despite the havoc COVID-19 continues to cause major economies, saw Chinese steel export prices continue to trend upward last week, even increasing at a quicker pace.
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The price of 60% ferromolybdenum (FeMo) in Northeast China, a key production hub of the noble alloy, stood firm on week at Yuan 97,000/tonne ($14,809/t) including the 13% VAT as of December 11, after softening for the prior two weeks. Market uncertainty earlier about how the price would move was dispelled late last week with a major steelmaker’s latest bid for December delivery and offers from leading miners for their moly concentrates.
