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Toyota Motor, Japan’s largest auto maker, will deepen the cuts on its September auto output globally to 430,000 units than the planned 360,000 units announced on August 19, mainly due to limited improvement in deliveries of auto components from Southeast Asia amid the latest wave of the COVID-19 in the region, according to a company official on September 10.
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The world’s top steelmaker China Baowu Steel Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the world’s top crude oil producer Saudi Aramco through its Shanghai-listed arm - Baoshan Iron & Steel Co (Baoshan Steel), planning to build an integrated heavy plate steel mill in Saudi Arabia, Baoshan Steel disclosed on September 9.
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Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest integrated steel producer, will increase its commercial-grade heavy plate price by Yen 10,000/tonne ($91/t) for spot domestic sales in September mainly to reflect the remaining supply tightness now and for the coming months, a company official confirmed on September 1.
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Japan’s carbon steel exports in July rose by 22.9% on year to about 1.96 million tonnes, or up on year for the third month after one year of drops, according to the latest data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on August 30, though the volume could have been higher if domestic mills had not prioritized domestic needs, a JISF official commented.
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I have not seen so many congratulatory messages and comments about a marriage between two Chinese steel mills since 2004 - the year I started the ferrous market news coverage - until August 20 when a formal announcement was released regarding Ansteel Iron & Steel Group (Ansteel)’s formal takeover of Bengang Group (Bengang), both in Northeast China’s Liaoning province and being state-owned though the former ultimately owned by the central government and the latter belonging to the provincial authority.
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In July, Japan’s crude steel output including carbon and special steel rose by 32.5% on year to about 8 million tonnes, or the fifth consecutive month with an on-year rise, though it was 1.3% lower than in June, according to the latest data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on August 23.
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Japan’s finished carbon steel sales both at home and abroad rose by 20.7% on year to about 5.2 million tonnes for June, and the total volume for January-June gained 13.4% on year to 30.5 million tonnes according to the release by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on August 16, confirming demand had been improving.
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The COVID-19 outbreak’s impact on the Japanese economy during fiscal 2020 (April 2020-March 2021) hit every production base at all three of the country’s integrated mills, newly-released data from mills published this week show. Most apparent are the drops at those works where blast furnaces were banked when steel demand tumbled, industry watchers noted.
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China Baowu Steel Group Co (Baowu), the world’s top steel producer, will ignite its third blast furnace also with a size of 5,050 cu m just as planned in the second half of 2021 at its Zhanjiang steelworks in South China’s Guangdong province, an official of the steelworks confirmed on July 6, rebutting a market rumour about the “indefinite” delay of the commissioning.
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By the end of this year, North China’s Shanxi, now China’s largest coal mining province, aims to build facilities to safely store another 23 million tonnes of coal, according to a recent notification from the province’s Energy Administration. Of this new capacity, 3 million tonnes will be for coal stored under government deployment, similar to a state stockpile, while another 20 million tonnes of capacity for commercial coal will be built and managed by coal miners and traders, Mysteel Global understands.
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Japan’s carbon steel exports achieved its first on-year gain in May in the 13 months, or up 9.5% on year to about 1.79 million tonnes, according to the data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on June 30, though the volume was not high, as the Japanese steel producers had been prioritizing domestic demand, a JISF official said.
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Japanese spot prices of heavy plate have risen by Yen 2,000-3,000/tonne ($18-27/t) over the past week, mainly on tighter supplies from producers and a rush of orders from dealers anticipating even higher prices ahead, sources in Tokyo said on Friday.
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For May, Japan’s exports of finished steel in all grades and forms rose by 10.9% on year to about 2.75 million tonnes, or the first month with an on-year gain after 12 consecutive months of drops, according to the preliminary data released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance on June 16.
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Coke market participants are closely monitoring what measures government authorities in East China’s Shandong might adopt to keep the province’s coke output under control, as part of the province’s work to rein in coal consumption.
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During the 14th Five Year Plan period over 2021-2025, China’s coal industry should go through further optimization by capping the number of the operative coal mines within 4,000 and raising the contribution to the country’s annual coal production by the larger-sized mines each with 1.2 million tonnes/year and above to over 85% by the end of the period, the China National Coal Association (CNCA) proposed.
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Shanxi, China’s top coking base located in the northern region, has exceeded Beijing’s order by capping its coking capacity at 143.7 million tonnes/year by early June, according to a post by Shanxi's Department of Industry and Information Technology on June 3.
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For April, Japan’s carbon steel exports dropped by 4.2% on year to about 1.72 million tonnes, according to the latest data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on May 31, which was the 12th month with an on-year decline, though an JISF official dismissed any concern, emphasizing that the country’s steel exports had been improving.
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Kobe Steel, Japan’s third largest integrated steelmaker, has raised its wire rod and bar list prices by Yen 5,000/tonne ($46/t) for July sales to both its domestic and overseas customers as part of the efforts to pass on some added input costs, a company official confirmed on June 1.
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China’s steel mills should conduct a more thorough study when exploring overseas steel investment opportunities either in greenfield projects or takeovers of existing steel assets, as risks have been arising in steel overcapacity in some countries or the growing difficulties in receiving funding, Ruan Qinghua, vice general manager of Capital Engineering & Research Incorporation Limited of Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) reminded the market.
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The new guideline governing steel capacity ‘swaps’ in China to take effect next week will help the steel industry to meet new challenges over 2021-2025, said Lv Guixin, an official with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and called for its strict implementation.
