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Japan’s electric-arc-furnace (EAF) steel producers have been receiving active inquiries for billet from Chinese buyers and bid prices are trending upwards, according to sources in Tokyo and Osaka on July 28. But actual billet exports are unlikely to increase due to limited availability, they said.
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Toyota Motor, Japan’s largest auto maker, has informed its auto parts suppliers that the company has adjusted its vehicle output plan lower for August and September by 10,000 units/month from its initial plan made a month ago, according to market sources in Tokyo and Nagoya in central Japan. The auto giant citing delays in receiving critical components.
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For the first half of 2021, China’s sizable industrial firms saw their gross profits surge by 66.9% on year or 45.5% higher than the corresponding period of 2019, according to the latest release by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on July 27, reflecting the strong recovery in demand and their overall performance, and bulk commodities sectors did post higher gains.
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Shortly after the first release of copper, zinc and aluminum reserves through an open auction on July 5-6, China’s National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration (NFSRA) will release the second batch of reserves of these metals via the same means on July 29, the National Development and Reform Commission shared in three posts through its WeChat account on July 21.
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For June, Japan’s crude steel output for all including carbon and special steel for June rose by 44.4% on year to about 8.1 million tonnes, and the whole volume for January-June gained 13.8% on year to about 48.1 million tonnes, with both the on-year rises partially due to the low bases a year ago, Mysteel Global noted from the data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on July 21.
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China’s power supply has been under serious test since the start of 2021, firstly in winter because of the extremely cold weather in some regions together with the surging power consumption in many industrial sectors as a result of heavy government spending and fixed asset investments to cushion the domestic economy from the blow of the COVID-19.
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HBIS Group (HBIS), a top-tier steel mill with all the core steelmaking facilities in North China’s Hebei province, is joining with South Korea’s largest steelmaker POSCO in a joint venture to produce and sell automotive steel sheet in Hebei’s Tangshan city, according to the official posts released by the two companies.
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China released all its key economic development data for the first half of 2021 by last week, and related governing organizations also held press conferences to explain the key points of the data on the day of releases where senior officials emphasized the country’s economic growth had been further optimized and is heading towards the desired track via the heavy reliance on the country’s huge domestic market.
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Japan’s finished carbon steel sales both at home and abroad soared 37.1% on year to about 5.03 million tonnes in May, according to the data released by the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on July 16, due to the steady growth in demand and low base a year ago, a JISF official commented on Monday.
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The Japanese integrated mills including Nippon Steel have reportedly won a large price increase for the sheets they supply to domestic electronics makers and makers of prefabricated homes for the first half of fiscal 2021 (April-September), lifting these by Yen 30,000-50,000/tonne ($273-455/t) from the previous October-March half, according to industry sources on July 16.
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Kyoei Steel, Japan’s largest rebar producer, is keeping rebar base prices at all its four plants across Japan unchanged at Yen 90,000/tonne ($819/t) for August domestic sales, the Osaka headquartered mini-mill announced on July 15.
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Privately-owned enterprises have been with greater significance in China’s foreign trade, as among the 479,000 firms involved in foreign trade in the first half of 2021, 397,000 or 82.8% of the total were privately-owned, Li Kuiwen, spokesperson of the country’s General Administration of Customs (GACC), shared at GACC’s press conference on July 13.
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China’s fixed asset investment (FAI) increased 12.6% on year in the first half of 2021 to Yuan 25.6 trillion ($3.96 trillion), and among the total, the funding in the property market grew 15% on year to Yuan 7.2 trillion, according to the release by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on July 15.
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China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 12.7% on year over January-June, approximating Yuan 53.2 trillion ($8.23 trillion), and for the second quarter of 2021, the GDP grew 7.9% on year, confirming that China’s national economy had been recovering steadily with all the key macro-economic indicators having returned to the reasonable levels, the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) commented on July 15 when releasing the data.
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Over January-June, China's fixed asset investment (FAI) grew 12.6% on year to Yuan 25.6 trillion, among which that in the property market grew 15% on year to Yuan 7.2 trillion, according to the release by the country's National Bureau of Statistics on July 15. A detailed report will be posted
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China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 12.7% on year for the first half of 2021, approximating Yuan 53.2 trillion ($8.23 trillion), and for the second quarter of 2021, the GDP grew 7.9% on year, according to release by the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on July 15. A detailed
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Japanese demand for carbon and special steel in crude steel equivalent for both domestic sales and export will rise 1.2% on quarter to 24.69 million tonnes during the present July-September period, according to the latest forecast released by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on July 13. This would make for the fifth consecutive quarter-on-quarter rise but more significant is the fact on a finished steel basis, METI puts growth far higher at 7.2%, Mysteel Global notes.
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Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, Japan’s leading electric-arc furnace producer, will add Yen 5,000/tonne ($45/t) to its plate list price and Yen 3,000/t to longs, both for August sales to reflect supply tightness and narrow the price gap with its other products, the company announced on July 13.
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For the first half of 2021, China’s foreign trade value increased 27.1% on year to Yuan 18.07 trillion ($2.79 trillion), among which exports surged 28.1% on year to Yuan 9.85 trillion and imports up 25.9% on year, according to the data released by the country’s General Administration of Customs (GACC) on July 13, with the first two easing but just marginally from the growths over January-May.
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Japan’s heavy plate price in the domestic spot market have been strengthening since late last year, and by July 13, the prices have gained another Yen 2,000/tonne ($18/t) on week, as supply has been very limited with the rather fast recovery in demand from the domestic long-term deal customers and overseas buyers, sources in Tokyo and Osaka shared on Tuesday.
