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The prices of steel scrap across major Chinese markets had risen by as much as Yuan 130/t ($22.2/t) on week as at January 11, Mysteel has learned. Chinese steelmakers lifted scrap procurement prices to attract scrap suppliers last week, but trading volume saw limited growth, according to market sources.
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The price index of coking coal across major Chinese spot markets stayed unchanged on week at Yuan 1,237/t ($183/t) as of January 11, as coal suppliers, amid supply tightness, had been holding their ground, refusing to give in on coke makers’ request for lower coal price amid the softening in merchant coke price over January 7-11, Mysteel understands.
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Iron ore shipments dispatched to all destinations from Australia and Brazil hit a 11-month low since February 2018 after having declined for the third consecutive week over January 7-13, down substantially by 3.6 million tonnes or 15.2% on week to 20.3 million tonnes in total mainly because of the less tonnage from Australia, according to Mysteel’s latest survey released on January 15.
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Domestic prices of Chinese iron ore concentrates remained generally steady during the January 7-11 week. Most were unchanged, though those in Tangshan in North China’s Hebei province and in Fanchang in East China’s Anhui province dipped Yuan 10-20/tonne ($1.5-3/t), according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey.
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China’s steel mills had shown growing preference to lower ferrous content iron ore products such as Super Special fines, FMG Blend fines, Jimblebar fines at the Chinese ports over January 7-11, which was reflected in the price movements too, market sources noted on January 14.
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Total stocks of coke being held by the 230 Chinese independent coking plants Mysteel surveys weekly grew by 5.7% or 52,900 tonnes on week to reach 977,200 tonnes as of January 10, a near eight-month high, according to Mysteel’s survey on January 11. Higher output, not fewer sales, was the main reason.
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Stocks of imported iron ore at 45 major Chinese ports reversed down over January 4-10 after a two-week rise, receding by 1.1 million tonnes on week to 141.8 million tonnes as of January 10, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey released on January 11. Behind the dip was the recovery in the daily discharge rate at some ports in North and East China and fewer new arrivals during the period, respondents said.
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Blast furnace capacity utilization among the 247 Chinese steel plants Mysteel regularly tracks recovered over January 4-10 after five consecutive weeks of declines, though the rise was a negligible 0.39 percentage point on week and took the rate to 76.42%, according to Mysteel’s latest survey released on January 11.
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Stocks of iron ore sintering fines being held by the 64 Chinese steel mills regularly surveyed by Mysteel recovered over the December 27-January 9 period, hitting a near two-month high. Daily consumption of the fines among the canvassed mills also reversed up, the latest survey published on January 10 shows.
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Prices of lower grade iron ore products at Chinese ports are performing better than those of medium- to high-grade ore products these days as most steel producers struggle to lower steelmaking costs to cope with the continued sag in domestic steel prices, market sources remarked Wednesday.
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Prices ofimported
coal stabled over Dec 31 2018-Jan 4 2019. Purchase inquiries and transactions
were few and far between.
Coking coal imports
Prices of imported coking
coal was stable on week.
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 Jan 4
(Unit: in ’000 tonnes)
Note:
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Iron ore shipments dispatched to all destinations from Australia and Brazil continued to drop over the December 31-January 6 week, declining by a large 2.46 million tonnes or 9.3% on week to 23.98 million tonnes, according to Mysteel’s latest survey released on January 8. Shipments from both countries decreased last week.
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Daily iron ore concentrates output at the 266 mines in China under the management of 126 mining enterprises recovered from the nine-month low over December 21-January 3, up 4,000 tonnes/day or 1.1% over a fortnight to 378,000 t/d, though still being a relatively low level, according to Mysteel’s latest survey released on January 4.
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The stocks of steel scrap among 61 Chinese steel plants including blast-furnace and electric-arc-furnace producers hit its four-week high after another rise by 1.3% or 41,600 tonnes on week to 3.27 million tonnes as of January 3, as the steel mills have been increasing their procurement tonnage, according to Mysteel’s survey on January 4.
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China’s domestic iron ore concentrates prices stayed firm over January 2-4, with most remaining unchanged while those in Liaoning of Northeast China up Yuan 20-70/tonne ($2.9-10.2/t), as demand from the domestic steel mills have been steady, imported iron ore prices have stayed strong, while supplies tend to decline in cold winter days, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey.
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The Chinese market for imported iron ore was buoyant last week after the country reopened for business following the three-day New Year holiday break from December 30 to January 1. Despite the lingering weakness of the finished steel market, many steelmakers felt the need to buy more iron ore to rebuild their internal stocks to ensure that blast furnace operations remained normal last week, according to market sources.
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Stocks of imported coking coal at the five major ports across China surveyed weekly by Mysteel increased by 7% or 187,000 tonnes on week as of January 3 to reach a four-week high of 2.77 million tonnes, according to the latest survey published on January 4. But respondents played down the increase, pointing out that while Chinese steelmakers actively replenished their coking coal inventories last week, the recommencement of clearance procedures by Chinese Customs from January 1 allowed more ships to unload their coal at ports last week.
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Capacity utilization among the 230 independent coke plants across China surveyed weekly edged up 0.61 percentage point on week to a four-week high of 73.19% as of January 3, according to Mysteel’s survey on January 4. The relaxation of restrictions on coke making in Xuzhou in East China’s Jiangsu province supported the uptick in coking capacity utilization this week, survey respondents said.
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The blast furnace capacity utilization rate among 247 Chinese steel plants refreshed its nine-month low by falling further for the fifth straight week over December 28-January 3, down another 0.77 percentage point to 76.03% as of January 3, according to Mysteel’s latest survey released on January 4.
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Imported iron ore stocks at China’s 45 major Chinese ports continued to recover over December 28 2018-January 3, up another 1.3 million tonnes on week to 142.9 million tonnes as of January 3 amid the constantly low discharge rates at some ports in North China and more new arrivals during the period, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey released on January 4.
