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Total passenger car sales throughout China over January to February increased 71% on year to nearly 3.4 million units, according to the latest release from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). But the semi-conductor shortage continues to impact car manufacturing, it warned.
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China’s per capita gross domestic product averaged Yuan 72,447 ($11,190), or up 2% on year, confirming the country has been qualified as a well-off society, and it had also eliminated absolute poverty, as the living standard of all the poor people in the countryside exceeded the bottom line of Yuan 2,300/year, Mysteel Global noted from the latest release by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
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Indian
HRC (SAE 1006) export index remains unchanged this week in recent deals
concluded to Vietnam for early April shipments. SteelMint’s index of
HRC (SAE 1006) stands at $717/t FoB East coast. Indian mills are
actively offering HRC export offers to Vietnam post-Tet holidays.
Current offers for HRC (SAE 1006)
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By the end of January, stocks of carbon steel hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated coils and sheets at the Japanese steel producers, coil centers and distributors rose by 9,000 tonnes or 0.3% tonnes on month to 3.57 million tonnes, or up on month for two consecutive months, but the volume was still below the normal range, Mysteel Global noted from the latest data released by Nippon Steel on March 2.
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Key highlights:
Indian mills actively resumed offering HRC to Vietnam
Chinese mills have further raised export offers on possible rebate cuts
Hoa phat released new price list for May shipments
Indian
mills have raised HRC export offers sharply by $15-25/t to Vietnam
following the trend of higher export offers from China. Also, mills are
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H-beam prices in Japan’s retail market have risen by Yen 2,000/tonne ($19/t) over the past week as dealers try again to pass along higher mill prices to their customers. The traders are receiving help in their push from the rebound in scrap prices, according to market sources in Tokyo and Osaka.
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China’s National Bureau of Statistic (NBS) updated the country’s crude steel output for 2020 to 1.065 billion tonnes from the preliminary 1.05 billion tonnes, and the year-on-year growth, thus, had been revised to 7% from the original 5.2%, according to the latest release from NBS including all the updates regarding the country’s series of data about economic and industrial performance.
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China’s heavy truck sales for February would probably approximate 110,000 units, or nearly tripling from the 37,600 units in February 2020, according to the latest release by Beijing-headquartered Commercial Vehicle World on February 28, which was mainly due to the ongoing truck upgrading in China, the country’s heavy investment in the infrastructure and the seasonal demand peak in the first quarter.
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As of February 26, less than half of China’s independent electric-arc-furnace (EAF) producers sampled in a new survey by Mysteel had resumed operations after the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday over February 11-17. Though steel demand from users has revived and margins have improved, that the percentage is not higher is being blamed in part on the mills’ continuing struggle to source sufficient scrap.
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Japan’s eight major automakers posted a 4.5% on-year drop in January output at both the domestic and overseas plants to about 2.11 million units, according to the data released by automakers until February 26, and the decline was not about auto demand but the worldwide shortage of semi-conductors, according to market sources.
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China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the manufacturing industry slid for the third month in February, easing by 0.7 basis point on month to 50.6, with the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) attributing the on-month decline mainly to the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday over February 11-17. Despite the dip, the national PMI has nonetheless remained in the expansion zone for the twelfth month, according to Bureau’s latest release on February 28.
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Japan’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for its manufacturing industry for February gained 1.6 basis points on month to reach 51.4, returning to expansion for the first time since December and indicating that Japanese manufacturers are gradually emerging from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to index compiler au Jibun Bank Corporation on March 1, the February result showed the strongest improvement since December 2018. A reading over the threshold of 50 connotes expansion, Mysteel Global notes.
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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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Osaka Steel, Japan’s largest steel sections producer, decided to keep its list prices of sections unchanged for domestic sales in March, trying to stabilize the prices in steelmaking raw materials and other input costs, though the company is ready to raise its prices in the coming months should the input costs incline further, a company official said on February 26.
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Crude steel production among 64 countries worldwide under the monthly survey by World Steel Association (WSA) totaled 162.9 million tonnes in January, up 4.8% on year or 2 million tonnes or 1.2% more on month, according to the latest statistics released by the association on February 25, showcasing that global steel demand has been picking up steadily on support of recovering downstream sectors such as automobiles.
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Growth in China’s industrial machinery sector in 2021 is expected to ease slightly to around 5.5%, as against the 6% on-year rise seen in 2020, but the outlook for the sector remains positive, according to a February 24 release from China’s Machinery Industry Federation (CMIF).
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Most of China’s top ten steelmaking provinces posted on-year increases in their crude steel production for 2020, and Hebei province in North China safeguarded its top ranking though its contribution to the country’s total declined by 0.5 percentage points, Mysteel Global noted from the latest data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
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Toyota Motor, Japan’s largest automaker, has informed its auto components suppliers that it will keep domestic automobile production at around 12,500-13,000 units/day during March-May, and its auto steel consumption, thus, will not be affected much by the short-time stoppage at half of its 28 assembly lines in Japan after the earthquake in mid-February, industry sources in Tokyo and Nagoya of central Japan shared on February 24.
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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 crude steel production in January including both carbon and special steel decreased by 3.9% on year to about 7.92 million tonnes, or recording the 11th consecutive month that had posted an on-year decline, according to the latest data from the Japan Iron & Steel Federation (JISF) on February 22, though it was 5.3% higher on month, suggesting that country’s steel demand and output has been recovering steadily on month, a JISF official pointed out.
