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Iron ore shipments dispatched worldwide from Australia and Brazil reversed up by a small 582,000 tonnes or 2.8% on week to 21.1 million tonnes over November 12-18, with both origins contributing to the recovery, according to Mysteel’s latest survey published on November 21.
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Beijing has shared its advice on the further optimization in China’s steel industrial location and steel products structure by region in a guideline released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) recently, a MIIT official confirmed on November 20.
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China’s domestic steel prices, especially long steel, slid at a breakneck speed on November 20 with Mysteel’s Tangshan Q235 150mm square billet price slumping to a seven-month low of Yuan 3,450/tonne EXW with a Yuan 130/tonne ($4.3/t) in a single day, and the HRB 400 20mm dia rebar price in Shanghai also fell Yuan 100/t day on day to Yuan 4,150/t despite the demand in East China should have been better than in North China. Both prices include the 16% VAT.
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Representatives of Chinese scrap processors and steel plants attending last weekend’s 2018 National Scrap Metal Conference in Chengdu in Southwest China’s Sichuan province anticipate that steel scrap prices in the country’s major steelmaking centres will be generally stable during the present winter season of production cutbacks spanning November 15-March 30.
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Chinese prices of imported iron ore softened on November 20, with Mysteel’s price index for 62% seaborne iron ore fines dipping by $2.4/dmt on day to $72.9/dmt CFR Qingdao. Similarly, the 62% portside iron ore fines price index contracted by a sharp Yuan 7/wmt ($1/wmt) on day to Yuan 585/wmt FOT Qingdao and including 16% VAT.
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The price of carbon steel billet in North China’s Tangshan fluctuated over November 12-16, with Mysteel’s daily price of Q235 150*150mm billet reaching Yuan 3,640/tonne ($528/t) EXW and including 16% VAT as of last Friday. The price had lost a total of Yuan 160/t on week to reach a 4-month low, Mysteel notes.
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Jiangsu Shagang Group, China’s largest electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker, has lowered its procurement price for steel scrap, clipping its prices by Yuan 50/t ($7.2/t) effective from November 20 deliveries, the company announced Tuesday. The reduction is the mill’s second in seven short days and will likely encourage other steelmakers in East China to follow suit, Mysteel notes.
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Chinese rebar prices are fast losing steam. Over the past two days Mysteel’s HRB 400 20mm dia rebar benchmark price in Shanghai has lost a total of Yuan 200/tonne ($28.8/t) in recent two days to reach Yuan 4,200/t including 16% VAT as of November 20.
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New data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show China’s production of the four key white goods items continued to enjoy positive growth on-year during January-October. For the country’s flat rolled steel producers and traders however, the upbeat manufacturing figures for home appliances didn’t end their concerns about steel demand and specifically that for cold-rolled and galvanized coil, market watchers said on Tuesday.
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Steel scrap prices in major Chinese regions softened further by Yuan 40-160/t ($5.8-23/t) or Yuan 100/t on average over the week of November 12-16, partly due to the softening in most of Chinese domestic steel prices, according to market sources.
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China’s steel scrap price is anticipated to stay stable by the first half of 2019 mainly because of the firm domestic demand, Li Shubin, Secretary General of China Association of Metalscrap Utilization (CAMU), shared on November 17 at the 2018 National Scrap Metal Conference in Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan province.
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Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer and headquartered in Taichung, Central Taiwan, has decided to maintain both its domestic rebar list price and the procurement price for locally-sourced scrap at low levels for the week of November 19-23 amid the sluggish markets for both, a company official confirmed on Monday.
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Mysteel’s national average benchmark price for HRB 400 20mm dia rebar continued with the free fall, down another Yuan 83/tonne ($12/t) day on day to Yuan 4,448/t including 16% VAT as of November 19, as “domestic market sentiment in general has turned throughout the whole industrial chain. To be specific, upstream producers were troubled with stocks pile-up amid floppy demand, and steel traders were eager to offload their stocks at lower prices, having no intention to hold onto large volumes of finished steel,” a Shanghai-based market watcher said.
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Chinese production of rebars recovered slightly last week as major steelmakers in Jiangsu province including Jiangsu Shagang Group and Yonggang Group gradually resumed full production after slowing their operations while Shanghai hosted China’s first International Imports Expo (CIIE).
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China’s domestic market for iron ore firmed during the November 12-16 week, though prices of imported iron ore declined on bearish steel market sentiment, mainly because supplies of most ore grades were limited, Mysteel’s latest survey showed.
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Chinese prices of imported iron ore revived further on November 19, with Mysteel’s 62% Australian iron ore fines price index for seaborne cargoes gaining $0.35/dmt from last Friday to $75.3/dmt CFR Qingdao. Similarly, the index for port inventories also strengthened a little, edging up by Yuan 2/wmt ($0.29/wmt) from last Friday to reach Yuan 592/wmt FOT Qingdao and including 16% VAT.
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Coking coal inventories being held by the 230 Chinese independent coking plants that Mysteel surveys weekly edged up another 1.2% or 175,200 tonnes on week to 15.1 million tonnes as of November 15, refreshing the eight-month high, according to Mysteel’s survey published on November 16. Active buying at a time when coking capacity utilization is low was the major factor driving up stocks last week, market sources explained.
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China’s lacklustre finished steel market has finally permeated the market for imported iron ore. Many steel mills are withdrawing from raw materials procurement, a development that’s making it hard for iron ore traders to stick to the high offer prices they’ve been demanding recently, Mysteel hears.
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Shanghai Ganglian E-Commerce Holdings (SGEH), parent company of Mysteel Global, has signed an agreement to enter into a joint venture and shareholder's agreement with Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) today, 19 November 2018.
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The volume of steel scrap arising in China this year is forecast to increase by 10% or by 20 million tonnes on year to reach 220 million tonnes, Li Shubin, Secretary General of the China Association of Metal Scrap Utilization (CAMU), forecasted at the 2018 National Scrap Metal Conference in Chengdu, Southwest China, on November 17. Within the total, some 40 million tonnes will be mill return scrap, according to Li.
