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China’s coking coal price stopped from declining and was rangebound over July 8-12, as some coke makers increased their coke procurement modestly, betting on the little likelihood of further decreases on merchant coke price, market sources shared on July 15.
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Iron ore shipments dispatched from Australia and Brazil showed signs of recovering over July 8-14, up 1.98 million tonnes or 10% on week to 21.75 million tonnes, mainly because of the added tonnage from Australia, according to Mysteel’s latest data released on July 16.
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Offer prices of domestically produced iron ore concentrates continued to increase over July 8-12, rising by as much as Yuan 85/tonne ($12.4/t) and closely following the uptrend in imported iron ore prices, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey released late last Friday.
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China’s domestic steel scrap market showed signs of staying firm over the week July 8-12, mainly given the low stocks of ferrous scrap among steelmakers amid the seasonal decline in scrap supply, market watchers said Monday.
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Prices ofimported
coal prices softened over July 8-12 2019. Purchase inquiries and transactions
were few and far between.
Coking coal imports
Quotations
of imported coking coal to China
PCIcoal imports:
Quotations
of importedPCIcoal to China
Unit: $/tonne, VAT excluded
Thermal coal imports:
Imported coking coal port stocks on July 12
(Unit: in ’000 tonnes)
Note: Jingtang port
stocks have been included in Shougang Group’s
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In-house coke stocks at the 230 Chinese independent coke plants under Mysteel’s weekly survey grew for the third week but at a slower pace of 19,300 tonnes or 1.8% on week to 1.1 million tonnes over July 5-11, as traders have resumed coke buying though steel mills’ demand is rather muted, according to analysts.
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As expected, blast furnace capacity utilization among the 247 blast-furnace steel companies across China under Mysteel’s weekly survey continued to ease modestly over July 5-11 to 80.85%, down 0.28 percentage point or having refreshed its three-month low, according to Mysteel’s release on July 12.
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Imported iron ore stocks at China’s 45 major ports plummeted for the tenth consecutive week over July 5-11 by another 796,400 tonnes on week to about 114 million tonnes or having refreshed its two-and-half-year low, as discharge rates rose while new vessel arrivals stayed low at many Chinese ports over the period, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey.
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Mysteel’s composite coking coal price index fell by Yuan 13.6/t ($2/t) on week to reach Yuan 1,222.2/t including the 13% VAT as of July 5, refreshing a near three-month low, according to market sources. Behind the fall was the further decline in merchant coke prices last week, they noted.
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Mysteel’s benchmark steel scrap pricing index hit a yearly high of Yuan 2,590/tonne ($375.4/t) on delivery to mills and including the 13% VAT as of July 5, representing a rise of 1.8% on week, Mysteel’s latest data showed. China’s domestic steel scrap market had been gradually rising over the week as the seasonal decline in scrap availability is generating supply tightness, market watchers said Monday.
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Iron ore shipments sailing from Australia and Brazil reversed down over July 1-7, declining by a significant 5.6 million tonnes or 22.1% on week to 19.8 million tonnes, or near a three-month low, according to Mysteel’s latest data released on July 9. Miners in both countries contributed equally to the plunge, the data show.
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China’s domestic steel mills agreed to pay Yuan 20-60/tonne ($2.9-8.7/t) more for their domestic iron ore concentrate procurement over July 1-5, matching the price-rise range offered by iron ore suppliers, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey released late last Friday.
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After a roller-coaster week over July 1-5, prices of imported iron ore both for port inventories and seaborne cargoes in China finally lost some ground by last Friday after their previous rally when market sentiment suddenly turned bearish. But market sources on Monday cautioned that prevailing low iron ore port inventories were still supporting iron ore prices.
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Prices ofimported
coal prices softened over July 1-5 2019. Purchase inquiries and transactions
were few and far between.
Coking coal imports
Quotations
of imported coking coal to China
PCIcoal imports:
Quotations
of importedPCIcoal to China
Unit: $/tonne, VAT excluded
Thermal coal imports:
Imported coking coal port stocks on July 5
(Unit: in ’000 tonnes)
Note: Jingtang port
stocks have been included in Shougang Group’s
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Daily production of iron ore concentrates among the 186 Chinese mining companies under Mysteel’s bi-weekly survey was generally stable during the June 21-July 4 period, rising by just a tiny 2,100 tonnes/day or 0.4% on fortnight. Despite the size of the rise, it was still enough to nudge output to a new high of 521,500 tonnes/day as of July 4, the highest since January when Mysteel enlarged the sample size from 126.
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Total stocks of merchant coke at the 230 Chinese independent coke plants monitored weekly by Mysteel swelled by 18.2% or 169,300 tonnes on week to 1.1 million tonnes as of July 4, mainly because of the decline in coke demand among steelmakers chiefly in Tangshan in North China’s Hebei, according to Mysteel’s survey on July 5.
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Blast furnace capacity utilization among the 247 blast-furnace steel companies across China Mysteel surveys weekly declined at a faster pace over the week of June 28-July 4 to reach 81.13%, a near three-month low and down by another 2.69 percentage points on week, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey released on July 5.
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Imported iron ore stocks at China’s 45 major ports plunged for a ninth consecutive week over June 28-July 4, tumbling by another 718,800 tonnes on week to reach 115 million tonnes as of July 4 and refreshing their two-and-half-year low, according to Mysteel’s latest survey released on July 5. The decline was due to the still relatively low number of vessel arrivals at many Chinese ports over the period.
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Stocks of imported iron ore sintering fines at the 21 mills in Tangshan in North China’s Hebei province fell to 2.5 million tonnes by July 3, or a record low since July 2014 when Mysteel launched the survey, as local mills were reluctant to stock up high-priced iron ore when they are undergoing restrictions.
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Iron ore shipments from Australia and Brazil refreshed the year’s high of 25.4 million tonnes over June 25-30, up another 2.3 million tonnes or 10% on week, as Australia remained the core contributor, according to Mysteel's latest shipments data released on July 2.
