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China’s market for imported iron ore saw more trading for seaborne ore cargoes over July 6-10 amid the healthy profits that imported ore still offers, Mysteel Global noted from market sources.
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Chinese prices of seaborne metallurgical coal were generally stable over July 6-10, as the market cooled last week when fewer bid and offer activities were observed, according to sources.
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China’s domestic steel scrap market remained generally steady over the week of July 3-10, with the mills’ demand remaining firm and availability of scrap remaining tight amid the slowdown in scrap collecting because of the wet season rains and humidity. As of July 10, Mysteel’s steel scrap price index had increased for a second week by another Yuan 7.3/tonne ($1/t) on week to Yuan 2,515.5/t on delivery and including the 13% VAT.
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Prices of steelmaking raw materials including iron ore and coke in China moved toward opposite directions over July 6-10 in the context of the improvement in the domestic steel market sentiment and prices.
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Over July 6-10, China’s rebar and HRC prices recovered on the declines in steel production, the slowdown in steel stocks build-up, as well as the growing market optimism in the next few months that had boosted spot sales.
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Prices ofimported coal prices firmedover July 6-10.
Coking coal imports
SeabornePCIcoal offering price to China, unit: $/tonne
PCIcoalimports:
SeabornePCIcoal offering price to China, unit:$/tonne
Seaborne thermalcoal offering price to China:
Edited by Sean Xie, xiepy@mysteel.com
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Coke stocks at the 110 Chinese steel mills under Mysteel’s weekly survey increased for a second week by another 61,900 tonnes or 1.3% on week to reach a 13-week high of 4.9 million tonnes as of July 9, chiefly because of the increase in coke arrivals at plants, according to Mysteel’s latest survey.
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Inventories of imported iron ore at China’s 45 major ports as of July 9 had grown for a third week to around 108.8 million tonnes, though the volume only increased by 693,300 tonnes or 0.6% on week, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey. The uptick was largely due to the increase in new arrivals at many ports, rather than any falloff in demand, sources said.
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Blast furnace capacity utilization among the 247 Chinese steel mills Mysteel tracks eased by another 0.27 percentage point on week to 93.08% as of July 9. Nevertheless, this was still higher by 6.64 percentage points on year and remained around the highest level since Mysteel commenced the survey in March 2018, chiefly because most Chinese steelmakers are still producing as much as possible while their steel remains profitable, Mysteel Global notes.
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China’s steel export prices remained stable over June 29-July 3 after increasing $5-10/tonne during the prior week, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly report, which pointed out that demand from Asia showed signs of recovery with the faster resumption of industry in India after New Delhi’s COVID-19 shutdown and the restart of construction activities in Singapore.
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Processed coking coal output from the 110 Chinese independent and affiliated wash plants under Mysteel’s weekly survey dipped for a second week last week, easing by 3,100 tonnes/day on week to 658,900 t/d as of July 7, according to Mysteel’s survey report on Wednesday. Lower output at plants in North China’s Shanxi province was cited.
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Asia’s market for steel scrap had another mixed week over June 29-July 3, as both India and China, the world’s top steel producing countries, saw steel scrap prices remain stable while prices in other Asian markets showed signs of weakening, Mysteel Global noted.
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The total volume of iron ore dispatched to global destinations from the 19 ports and 16 mining companies in Australia and Brazil reversed down over June 29-July 5 after three weeks of consistent rises, falling by 7.6% or 2.18 million tonnes on week to 26.3 million tonnes in total with both countries posting on-week declines, according to Mysteel’s latest survey.
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Chinese steel mills were cautious about buying domestic iron ore concentrates over June 29-July 3, as prices of imported iron ore ebbed during the period, according to Mysteel’s weekly survey. Thus, domestic miners in some regions cut their offer prices by Yuan 10-30/tonne ($1.4-4.3/t) from June 28 in their attempt to boost sales, the survey showed.
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China’s domestic steel scrap market remained stable over the week of June 25-July 3, supported by the low stocks of scrap among steelmakers amid the seasonal decline in scrap supply. As of July 3, Mysteel’s steel scrap price index was at Yuan 2,508.2/tonne ($358.3/t) on delivery to mills and including the 13% VAT, up Yuan 5.1/t from June 28, a designated working day after China’s celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival over June 25-26.
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China’s seaborne metallurgical coal market was with mixed signals over June 29-July 3 with prices varying by specifications, and the market is still very much constrained with the limited import quota though inquiries from the Chinese end-users had warmed up, market sources shared.
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Prices of imported iron ore in China softened both in the spot and futures markets over June 29-July 3 in line with the continuing softening in domestic steel sales and prices, while spot coke prices strengthened mainly on the recent supply curbs in East China.
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Over June 29-July 3, China’s rebar and HRC prices softened on rises in production and inventories while less demand from East, South and Southwest China with the frequent and heavy rainfalls.
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Prices ofimported
coal prices firmed over June 29-July 3.
Coking coal imports
SeabornePCIcoal
offering price to China, unit: $/tonne
PCIcoal imports:
SeabornePCIcoal
offering price to China, unit: $/tonne
Seaborne thermal coal offering
price to China:
Edited by Sean Xie, xiepy@mysteel.com
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Average daily coke output among the 230 Chinese independent coke plants under Mysteel’s weekly survey increased for a third straight week over June 25-July 2 to hit an 8.5-month high of 668,400 tonnes/day as of Thursday, up by another 1,200 t/d from June 24, according to Mysteel’s latest survey. There’s been minimal easing of the coke plants’ run-rates because of healthy profits and firm demand from steel mills, survey respondents said.
