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Chinese steel export prices slumped over the week March 21-27 as global demand decreased significantly with the deadly COVID-19 continuing to decimate global economies, export market sources maintained on Tuesday.
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Offer prices of domestic iron ore concentrates being tabled by Chinese miners diverged over March 23-27, with those in East China’s Anhui and Northeast China’s Hebei and Shanxi provinces dipping Yuan 10-30/tonne ($1.4-4.2/t) on week, as Chinese mills were reluctant to buy concs when prices of imported iron ore were declining, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey. On the other hand, prices in a few regions increased by Yuan 7-20/t on week, the survey findings show.
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China’s domestic prices of major steel products all reversed down over March 23-27, even though spot sales volume had remained high, partly as most traders still rushed to conclude more deals rather than to prop up prices amid the growing uncertainties in the global economic environment amid the worsening COVID-19 situation, Mysteel Global noted.
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Ordinary steel inventories held by Chinese traders declined further over the period of March 20-26, thanks to continuing firm downstream demand, new data indicated. However, traders still showed some hesitation about stepping up prices for now, Mysteel Global has learned from the market.
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Chinese export steel prices softened further after Beijing announced increases to export tax rebates on some steel items from March 20, but export transactions did not improve much despite the price drops, export sources tell Mysteel Global. Global steel prices fell faster and the few buyers with interest turned to cheaper products, they explained.
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Offer prices of domestic iron ore concentrates being tabled by Chinese miners and beneficiation plants firmed over March 16-20, mainly because their stocks have thinned as demand from domestic steel mills has improved, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey. Prices in Northeast China’s Liaoning and North China’s Shanxi provinces rose by Yuan 10-20/tonne ($1.4-2.8/t) in the space of just one week, the data show.
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China’s domestic spot steel prices kept increasing over March 16-20, as the demand from the downstream industries had been steadily improving, while steel futures prices retreated on the market uncertainties amid a mix of positive and negative news, Mysteel Global noted.
Rebar: China’s national average HRB400 20mm dia rebar benchmark price
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Iron ore concentrate stocks among the 186 Chinese mining companies under Mysteel’s regular survey continued to decline to a two-month low of 3.9 million tonnes as of March 19, as the improvement in demand for feeds among domestic steel mills has coincided with delivery logistics returning to normal, one survey respondent explained on Friday.
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Total inventories of the five major steel items held by Chinese traders finally entered de-stocking territory after steadily increasing for nearly three months, Mysteel Global has learned. And it was improving demand, not production cuts, that did it.
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Chinese steel exporters are finding it increasingly hard to close deals with overseas buyers recently, market sources admit. Strong bearish sentiment exits in international steel markets as countries brace for slowing domestic economic growth, while in China the recovery in domestic sales has reduced the willingness of mills and traders to chase overseas business, Mysteel Global understands.
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Offering prices of domestic iron ore concentrates from Chinese miners and beneficiation plants increased in most regions over March 9-13, rising by Yuan 10-90/tonne ($1.4-12.9/t) on week, mainly because of tight supplies of concs, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey. Domestic steelmakers also raised their buying prices accordingly by Yuan 10-30/t during the period.
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China’s domestic steel prices both at the physical and futures markets grew further over March 9-13, as downstream demand had been steadily recovering with the COVID-19 under the control for now, though the space for rises had been limited by the traders’ rush to offload high stocks and to mitigate pressure from tight cashflows.
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Total stocks of the five major finished steel products held by Chinese traders continued rising over the week of March 6-12, but the pace of growth slowed down from the previous week, mainly thanks to the demand recovery over the period, Mysteel Global has learned.
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Chinese steel export prices generally dipped over February 29-March 6 after just one-week of growth during the prior week, as global market sentiment worsened amid worries about the escalating COVID-19 virus, Mysteel’s latest survey showed.
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Offering prices of domestic iron ore concentrates from Chinese miners and beneficiation plants diverged over March 2-6, with those in Northeast China’s Liaoning and South China’s Guangdong provinces rising by Yuan 10-30/tonne ($1.4-4.3/t) on week, while those in North China’s Hebei and Shanxi declined by Yuan 10-17/t on week, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey.
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Iron ore concentrate stocks among the 186 Chinese mining companies under Mysteel’s regular survey declined to 4.2 million tonnes over the two weeks to March 5 from their 14-month high during the prior fortnight. Respondents said logistics services had improved, especially truck transport, amid signs that the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was being controlled.
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Chinese steel export prices climbed last week, rebounding for the first time since the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday break ended on February 2, with the settlement prices up $2-10/t, according to Mysteel’s data tracker.
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Offering prices of domestic iron ore concentrates from Chinese miners and beneficiation plants increased over February 24-28, with those in major regions rising by Yuan 10-40/tonne ($1.4-5.7/t), due to the crimp on supplies, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey. In response, most steelmakers felt compelled to raise their bidding prices by Yuan 10-30/t.
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China’s domestic steel prices experienced sharp declines and hovered at their respectively multi-month lows at the end of February, as Chinese steel traders, on noting the remaining weak domestic demand, high steel inventories, and the further stretch in their cash flow, were forced to lower prices.
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Bidding prices of domestic iron ore concentrates from Chinese steel mills diverged over February 17-21, with those in Northeast China’s Liaoning province dipping Yuan 20/tonne ($2.8/t) while those in North China’s Hebei province increased Yuan 30/t, as the demand from mills in Hebei was stronger than in Liaoning, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey.
