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Blast furnace capacity utilization among the 247 blast-furnace steel companies across China which Mysteel surveys weekly decreased further by 0.53 percentage point on week to 78.88% over the week of January 10-16, according to Mysteel’s latest survey published on January 17. The use rate was still 2.43 percentage points higher than this time last year, however.
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Mysteel’s benchmark price for Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan in North China’s Hebei province increased by Yuan 30/tonne ($4.3/t) on week as of January 10 to reach Yuan 3,330/t EXW and including the 13%VAT, as buying among both local billet traders and steel re-rollers remained active, market sources indicated on Monday.
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The blast furnace capacity utilization rate among the 247 blast furnace steelmakers across China under Mysteel’s weekly survey reversed down 0.24 percentage point on week to 79.41% as of January 9, with another round of restriction on steel mills in North and East China over January 2-7, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey released on January 10.
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China’s flat steel exports stayed thin over December 28-January 2, though Chinese steel mills still decided to raise their offer prices by $8-13/tonne, market sources shared on Monday.
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Mysteel’s benchmark price in Tangshan city of Q235 150mm square billet, the weathervane of China’s steel market, observed an uneventful New Year’s break, keeping level at Yuan 3,300/tonne ($473.5/t) EXW including the 13% VAT throughout the whole week of December 30-January 3, thanks to the recovery in downstream demand from local users.
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The price of Q235 square billet in North China’s Tangshan city, a key indicator of the country’s steel market sentiment, remained stable over January 3-5 at Yuan 3,300/tonne ($474/t) EXW including the 13% VAT as of Sunday. Meanwhile, China’s national average price for HRB400 20mm dia rebar inched up Yuan 3/t on day to reach Yuan 3,843/t as of January 3, also including the VAT, Mysteel’s data showed.
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Total inventories of the five major finished-steel products held by traders in 35 major cities across China under Mysteel’s weekly survey increased by 7% on week over December 27-January 2, with the increase being much larger than the 3.1% on-week growth seen in the prior week, according to Mysteel’s latest stocks study.
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Mysteel’s benchmark price for Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan, North China’s Hebei province, slipped by another Yuan 20/tonne ($2.9/t) on week to Yuan 3,320/t EXW and including 13% VAT as of December 27, declining for the fourth week in a row, as demand remained weak in general despite the minor improvement later in the week.
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China’s steel export business quietened appreciably last week when many countries halted business to observe the Christmas and Boxing Day holidays. In the Southeast Asian market too, the destination for most Chinese steel exports, sales were also slack amid the holidays and preparations for the coming new year, market sources indicated on Tuesday.
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The blast furnace capacity utilization rate among the 247 blast furnace steelmakers across China under Mysteel’s weekly survey posted a further tiny decline of 0.24 percentage point on week during December 20-26 to reach 78.99%, mainly because furnace operations at sampled steel mills in north China were under production curbs over the period as local governments responded to worsening air pollution.
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The gap between Chinese steel export prices and those of other countries is narrowing, thanks to the recent jumps in global steel prices, and overseas sales of China-origin steel products have improved as result, Chinese sources told Mysteel Global on Tuesday.
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Mysteel’s Q235 150mm square billet benchmark price, an important indicator of China’s steel market movement, decreased by Yuan 30/tonne ($4.3/t) on week to Yuan 3,340/t EXW and including the 13% VAT as of December 20. The price had remained at that level for five working days over December 16-20.
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Blast furnace capacity utilization among the 247 blast-furnace steel companies across China Mysteel surveys weekly continued to trend down at a faster pace over the week of December 13-19 to reach 79.23%, a near one-month low and lower by another 1 percentage point on week, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey released on December 20.
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Chinese mills and traders continued to raise their export offer prices for a fifth straight week last week in tandem with the strengthening prices seen in the domestic market. However, price disadvantages with foreign competitors meant export sales remained poor, Chinese steel market sources indicated on Tuesday.
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The price billet in Tangshan, an important indicator of Chinese steel market volatility, especially for North China, has been under greater downward pressure recently, market sources indicated on Tuesday, citing higher supply but lower interest in procurement among downstream users.
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Steel stocks at Chinese trading houses continued to fall for a tenth consecutive week last week to reach 7.44 million tonnes as of December 12, refreshing the historical low since Mysteel Global launched the survey in January 2013. Yet the drop in inventories notwithstanding, the steel market is seeing clear signs of weakening demand, especially for rebar, market sources indicated on Friday.
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The blast furnace capacity utilization rate among the 247 blast furnace steelmakers across China which Mysteel monitors showed a slight week-on-week decrease of 0.71 percentage point to reach 80.23% as of December 12, with the decline mainly among steel mills in East China’s Shandong province, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey released on December 13.
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China’s steel export volume has remained slack despite recent price rises together with the overall strengthening in China’s domestic prices, as higher prices have only highlighted the lack of pricing competitiveness in the global market, according to Chinese market sources on Tuesday.
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Billet inventories at traders in Tangshan, China’s largest steel producing hub in North China’s Hebei province, reached a new low last week, even though the stocks total only edged down another 1,300 tonnes or 0.1% on week to 128,300 tonnes as of December 5, Mysteel’s latest survey showed. Nonetheless, this was the lowest since April 2012 when Mysteel first launched the survey.
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Stocks of the five major finished steel items held by the Chinese traders Mysteel regularly surveys in 35 major cities nationwide refreshed their record low during the week of November 29-December 5, declining for a ninth straight week by another 0.2% on week to 7.56 million tonnes, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey. However, the decline was much smaller than the 2.9% on-week decrease seen in the previous survey period.
