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Mysteel’s latest survey released on August 17 showed that the capacity utilization rate of blast furnaces at 247 Chinese steel plants regularly checked inched up by a tiny 0.04 percentage point on week during the week of August 10-16 to 79.16%.
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China’s total iron ore stocks at the 45 major ports nationwide declined for the second week over August 10-16, down 1.4 million tonnes or 0.9% on week to 151.5 million tonnes as of August 16, according to Mysteel’s latest survey released on August 17, which was mainly because of the disruption of ship arrivals and discharges because of the Typhoon Yagi over the period.
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Iron ore shipments dispatched from Australia and Brazil worldwide kept five-week consecutive increase since July 6, up by 390,000 tonnes or 1.6% on week to 24.2 million tonnes during the week of August 5-12, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey published on August 15. A higher shipping volume from Brazil was the major reason behind the continuous climb.
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China’s steel scrap prices have been strengthening, with the national price up Yuan 102.2/tonne ($14.9/t) or 4.4% on week, mainly supported by the frequent restrictions on Chinese steel mills and the usual steel scrap supply tightness during the hot summer days in July and August, market sources shared on August 13.
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China’s domestic iron ore market saw an across-the-board rise during the August 6-10 week, gaining Yuan 10-40/tonne ($1.5-5.8/t) depending on grade, (excluding delivery basis and VAT), with the rise mainly driven by the surge in prices of imported iron ore, Mysteel data shows.
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Buoyant domestic steel prices led Chinese prices for imported iron ore fines to rally again over August 6-10, with the price of medium- to low-grade iron ore fines performing the strongest over the week, market sources said on Monday.
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Prices ofimported coals stable over Aug 6-10, with coking coal price stable after rising, and those of PCI and thermal coal were stable from previous week. Purchase inquiries and transactions were few and far between.
Coking coal imports
Prices of imported coking coalsoftened on week, due to the high stocks at mills
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Total stocks of iron ore at China’s 45 major ports nationwide declined by 1.23 million tonnes on week to 152.9 million tonnes as of August 9, the lowest stocks have been since February 23, according to Mysteel’s latest survey released on August 10.
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The capacity utilization rate of blast furnaces at the 247 steel plants nationwide which Mysteel regularly monitors dropped by 0.57% during the week of August 3-9 to an average of 79.12% as of August 9, according to the latest survey released on August 10. Over the same period, the operation rate for the furnaces at these mills also declined, slipping by 0.69% to 78.75%, the survey results showed.
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The stocks of coking coal at Chinese coke plants and steelmakers declined slightly on week this week, partly due to the dip in coal supplies at a time when demand is growing, according to market sources.
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Prices ofimported coals declined over July 30-Aug 3, with coking coal price dropping, and those of PCI and thermal coal continuing decline from previous week. Purchase inquiries and transactions were few and far between.
Coking coal imports
Prices of imported coking coalsoftened on week, due to the high stocks at mills and
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Steel mills in Tangshan and Wu’an in North China’s Hebei province consumed more imported iron ore sintering fines over July 26-August 8, thanks to the partial or complete relaxation of restrictions on local steel producers’ sintering, coke-making, shaft furnace and blast furnace operations, Mysteel data suggests. The production curbs had been introduced to help reduce atmospheric pollution.
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Iron ore shipments dispatched from Australia and Brazil worldwide remained to increase during the week of July 30-August 5, up by 395,000 tonnes or 1.7% on week to 23.8 million tonnes, with the increase being mainly attributed to the higher volume from Australia, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey published on August 8.
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Chinese prices for domestic iron ore concentrates for pelletizing increased by Yuan 17-20/dmt ($2.5-3/dmt) over July 30-August 3 in Handan and Xingtai in North China’s Hebei and in Zibo in East China’s Shandong, Mysteel data shows.
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Steel scrap prices in East China again rose the fastest among prices in all regions nationwide last week, with market sources on Monday saying the restrictions on scrap handling and distribution were continuing to keep supplies tight and this triggered the price hikes.
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China’s prices for higher-grade iron ore fines port inventories, mainly with Fe content at 61.5-65%, increased further by Yuan 4-17/wmt ($0.6-2.5/wmt) on week over July 30-August 3, due to remaining tightness in supplies at the port in North and East China, market sources said on August 6.
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The stocks for imported coking coal at five major ports in China refreshed a 34-months high at 4.23 million tonnes as of August 2, or a merely 0.6% up on week, according to Mysteel’s survey result released on August 3.
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Domestic production of iron ore concentrates at the 126 miners across China regularly contacted by Mysteel recovered by 4,000 tonnes/day or 10% over the past two weeks to an average of 412,000 t/d as of August 2, according to the latest Mysteel survey results released on August 3.
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China’s total iron ore stocks at the 45 major ports nationwide remained at around the 153-154 million tonnes level last week, gaining just 649,100 tonnes or 0.4% on week to 154.1 million tonnes as of August 2, according to Mysteel’s latest survey released on August 3. There were some changes in inventory structure, however.
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Mysteel’s latest survey shows that the capacity utilization rate of blast furnaces at 247 steel plants in China inched down by a tiny 0.31 percentage point during July 27-August 2 to 79.69% on August 2.
