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Chinese prices of imported iron ore rose again on May 20 – albeit by a negligible $0.3/dmt – to take Mysteel’s price index for 62% seaborne iron ore fines to $100.65/dmt CFR Qingdao and refreshing the five-year high. Also, the 62% portside iron ore fines price index rose by a further Yuan 2/wmt ($0.3/wmt) on day to reach Yuan 725/wmt FOT Qingdao and including 13% VAT, also the highest in five years.
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Both buy and sell prices of Chinese iron ore concentrates increased again over the May 13-17 week, rising by Yuan 5-20/tonne ($0.7-2.9/t) and mirroring the trend in prices of imported iron ore which surged to new highs, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey released late last Friday.
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Stocks of stainless steel held by Chinese traders touched a new high as of May 17. Demand from downstream users has remained moribund since the end of the Chinese New Year holiday break back in February and this has stalled digestion of stocks, market sources admit.
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Coking coal stocks at plants operated by the 230 Chinese independent coke makers surveyed weekly by Mysteel grew 2.4% or 335,900 tonnes on week to 14.5 million tonnes as of May 16, enough to last the makers for 15.74 days, or 0.23 day up on week, according to Mysteel’s data published on May 17. Healthy coke margins and the bullishness of the domestic coke market had encouraged the plants to buy more feedstocks, market sources explained.
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Good fundamentals pushed Chinese prices of imported iron ore to five-year highs over the past week, as Mysteel reported, a climb that has annoyed domestic steel mills when their profit margins on finished steel continue to languish at relatively low levels.
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Chinese domestic rebar output reached nearly 3.8 million tonnes over the May 9-15 week, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly production study on 137 long steel producers across the country. The total was up by just 0.7% on week but survey respondents said output was set to track higher.
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Chinese domestic prices of hot-rolled coil declined over the week of May 13-17, mainly as downstream demand saw signs of weakness and traders lowered prices in order to stimulate sales, Mysteel Global notes.
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Xining Special Steel Co, the largest specialty steel producer in West China, produced 168,000 tonnes of steel products in April, an historical high, according to company chairman Yi Liangqiu. He’s aiming for total steel production of 1.8 million tonnes this year, up 23.3% from last year.
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Chinese domestic steel prices are expected to stay rangebound during the coming term under the impact of oversupply in the domestic market and the escalation of Sino-US trade friction, according to the latest monthly report of China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) released on May 17.
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Chinese domestic rebar output last month continued its high-speed climb, soaring by a sizzling 23.7% year on year to 20.5 million tonnes and occupying 20.1% of national total of finished steel output, the largest share, according to latest data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics.
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Mysteel’s Q235 150mm square Tangshan billet price, the weathervane of China’s steel market, searched for direction over the weekend, first losing then recovering Yuan 10/tonne ($1.4/t) on Saturday and Sunday to end at Yuan 3,560/t EXW and including the 13% VAT as of May 19, unchanged from last Friday.
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China produced 68.5 million tonnes of run-of-mine (ROM) iron ore throughout April, lower by 1.3 million tonnes or 1.9% on month but higher by 1.2% on year, according to the latest statistics from China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on May 17.
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China’s domestic market stocks of the five major carbon steel items in 35 major cities across the country shrank by another 4.2% on week to some 11.6 million tonnes during May 9-15, according to Mysteel’s latest stocks survey. The five comprise rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and medium plate.
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Chinese prices of imported iron ore in both the spot and futures markets jumped to record highs on May 17, thanks to strong fundamentals recently, so market sources suggested on Friday.
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Mysteel’s 62% portside iron ore fines index surged another Yuan 18/wmt ($2.6/wmt) on day to Yuan 723/wmt FOT Qingdao and including the 13% VAT on May 17, a five-year high. The 62% seaborne iron ore fines index reached $100.35/dmt CFR Qingdao on Friday, higher by $2.4/dmt on day and also a new five-year high.
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Rescue efforts are being made to locate missing mineworkers after an underground iron ore mine in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province was flooded early on May 17, with nine people still being stuck in the mine pit, according to a news from China’s Ministry of Emergency Management released early Friday morning.
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Chinese iron ore prices, especially for imported cargoes, are unlikely to remain high over the near term, mainly due to a slowdown in the pace of procurement among Chinese steelmakers and the fact that domestic market supplies of iron ore are on the rise, according to the China Iron & Steel Association’s latest monthly report on the iron ore market released on May 16.
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The most traded rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased by Yuan 35/tonne ($5/t) from the settlement price last Friday to end the daytime session at Yuan 3,771/t as of 15:00 May 17. But market players hold differing expectations regarding future price trends, Mysteel Global notes.
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Coke stocks at the 230 Chinese independent coke plants monitored weekly by Mysteel dipped by another 51,400 tonnes or 4.7% on week as of May 16 to reach 1.05 million tonnes, a three-month low, despite the fact that the merchant coke producers’ output edged up by 6,100 tonnes/day on week to 694,400 tonnes/day, according to Mysteel’s survey published on May 17.
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Chinese production of air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, and televisions by the country’s home appliance makers increased further during January-April, with output of air-conditioners growing the fastest among the four, rising by 12.5% year on year to reach 75.5 million units during the first four months, according to the latest data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on May 17.
