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Some domestic yellow goods dealers in East and Central China have begun raising sales prices of their heavy equipment beginning late February, trying to offset higher manufacturing costs caused by climbing input prices including those of steel, Mysteel Global has learned.
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Japan’s carbon steel exports declined again in January, falling by 13% on year and by 0.9% on month to 1.65 million tonnes, according to the latest data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation on February 26. Though this marked the ninth consecutive monthly tumble, a JISF official was optimistic that this month’s result would show some improvement as steelmakers had more capacity available.
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Domestic sales of passenger cars in China this month are expected to reach 1.2 million units, some 44.9% lower on month, according to the latest release from the China Passenger Car Association on February 22. The CPCA said the Chinese New Year holiday over February 11-17 had interrupted sales, leading to the decline in sales.
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Japan’s exports of steel in all grades and forms declined by 13.3% on year to about 2.43 million tonnes for January, or the ninth month in a row with on-year drops, according to the preliminary data released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance on February 17, which was mainly due to the domestic steel mills’ preference for domestic sales over exports when supply was tight, Mysteel Global understood.
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Integrated Indian steel major JSW Steel has set a February 2021 total sales target of a little over 9 lakh tonnes from its flagship Vijayanagar plant, which is actually lower from the planned sales target of about 9.60 lakh tonnes set for the previous month of January. Actual total sales in January, however, were lower from the plan at around 9.05 lakh tonnes.
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China’s excavators sales by the 26 makers for both domestic and overseas markets totalled 19,601 units for January, or up 97.2% on year, according to the latest statistics from the China Construction Machinery Association (CCMA), with the surge mainly due to the low base numbers for January 2020 when China was hit by the COVID-19 and the remaining robust demand from the domestic construction projects, market sources commented.
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Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest integrated mill, now expects to be able to post a pre-tax profit of Yen 30 billion ($284.6 million) on a consolidated basis for fiscal 2020 (April 2020-March 2021), reversing its earlier projection of a Yen 60 billion pre-tax loss, the company announced on February 5.
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Japan’s crude steel output including both carbon and special steel is estimated to rise by 7.8% on quarter to about 23.7 million tonnes over January-March, according to a survey released by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on February 3, indicating the further improvement in steel demand.
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Chinese automotive dealers selling heavy-duty trucks seem to have enjoyed a sizzling start to the new year, according to the latest release from Beijing-headquartered Commercial Vehicle World on February 2. Preliminary sales data for January indicate that truck sales increased by a huge 62% on year to around 189,000 units, CVWorld noted, adding that manufacturers and dealers seem set to boost sales further during the first half of this year ahead of new regulations on truck emissions taking effect.
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Japan’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for its manufacturing industry for January 2021 has declined by 0.2 basis points on month to 49.8 mainly due to lower output with the resurgence of the COVID-19, according to the release from au Jibun Bank Corporation on February 1.
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The value of home electrical appliance sales in Japan during 2020 reached Yen 2.54 trillion ($24.45 billion), up only 1% on year but still the highest since 1996, according to the latest data released by the Japan Electrical Manufacturers’ Association on January 25. JEMA attributed the rise to more people spending more time at home to stay safe from the COVID virus last year.
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Japan posted a 51-year low in its crude steel output for the calendar year of 2020, which slumped for the sixth consecutive year by another 16.2% on year to about 83.2 million tonnes, according to the latest data from the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF), and this was mainly due to the adverse impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, a JISF official commented on January 25.
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Despite the hit that the domestic and global economies suffered from the spreading COVID virus last year, Chinese white goods manufacturers managed to maintain comparatively stable production and sales throughout 2020, thanks in part to increasing overseas demand, new official data shows.
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Japan’s total steel exports during calendar 2020 fell 4.8% on year to 31.26 million tonnes, according to preliminary data released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance on January 21. Last year’s result marked the fourth year in a row that annual export volume had fallen below 40 million tonnes, with the reduction mainly attributed to the negative impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on steel consumption worldwide.
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Chinese shipbuilders received new vessel orders totalling 28.9 million dead weight tons (dwt) during 2020, according to new data from the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry, and though this was down by 0.5% on year, China nonetheless outpaced South Korea to regain first place for total orders secured globally after a two-year hiatus, CANSI said. But the global shipbuilding industry is still navigating challenging times, it warned.
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The auto production among China’s 15 major automakers declined 27.4% on year to 523,000 units over January 1-10, according to the latest data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on January 14, which was mainly due to the growing shortage of auto semiconductors and the manufacturers’ relaxation on output at the start of the year, according to market sources.
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Japan’s core machinery orders from domestic users excluding shipbuilders and power equipment makers improved for the second consecutive month in November, rising by 1.5% on month in value to Yen 854.8 billion ($8.2 billion), according to a release by the Japanese government’s Cabinet Office on January 14.
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The Japanese auto manufacturers are facing the shortage of semiconductors, which may force them to slow down the pace of production again in the coming months at their plants both inside Japan and abroad after the recovery from the COVId-19 impact since August 2020, and steel consumption in the sector may decline too, market sources shared.
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Despite the massive economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 contagion last year, automotive sales across China only declined 1.9% on year in 2020, according to the latest release from the the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on January 13, and it was in line with the association's latest estimation of a 2% on-year drop at most by in mid-December 2020.
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China’s sales of excavators and other heavy machinery for both domestic and export customers soared by 39% on year to reach 327,605 units for 2020, refreshing the sales record, according to the latest data released by the China Construction Machinery Association (CCMA). The surge in full-year sales was faster than the 16% on-year rise seen in 2019.
