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Weak construction-steel demand, caused by snowfalls and freezing weather in North China and continuing rains in East China, continues to weigh heavily upon steel prices, with Mysteel’s national average price for HRB400 20mm dia rebar losing Yuan 46/tonne ($6.7/t) on day to Yuan 3,982/t including the 16% VAT on December 11, the lowest level since late April.
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The total value of China’s exports to the United States for November still grew 8.2% on month, a much faster rate than the 4.7% month-on-month growth which China’s total exports worldwide enjoyed last month and despite the ongoing trade friction between the world’s top two economies, the latest statistics from China’s General Administration of Customs show.
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China’s exports of steel reached 5.3 million tonnes in November, representing a decline of 202,000 tonnes or 3.7% on month, according to data from China's General Administration of Customs released on December 8. China exported 63.8 million tonnes of steel over January-November, lower by a large 8.6% on year, Customs data show.
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China’s steel industry has removed steel capacity equivalent to nearly 150 million tonnes/year since 2016, basically fulfilling the capacity reduction target the central government had set the industry, according to Chi Jingdong, deputy secretary general of China Iron and Steel Association.
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China’s central government is stepping up pressure on local authorities to solve the debt problem of ‘zombie’ enterprises – debt-ridden firms surviving only through bank-financing drip-feeds — and of companies involved in capacity reduction, as part of efforts to fast-track ongoing supply-side reforms, according to a December 4 notice tabled by eleven ministries and institutions under China’s State Council.
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The price of 304/2B 2mm CR stainless in Wuxi in East China’s Jiangsu province spent the week to December 6 hovering at Yuan 15,100/t ($2,195/t) including the 16% VAT, according to Mysteel’s database, still at the seven-month low it touched on November 30.
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Chinese exports of carbon and special steel to Japan rose again in October, new data from the Japan Iron & Steel Federation show, with exports of wire rods continuing to register particularly strong growth. South Korea remains by far the largest source of Japan’s steel imports, however.
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Shenzhen-listed Hunan Valin Steel Co, the listed arm of Hunan Valin Group in central China’s Hunan province, has suspended trading its shares since December 3 to proceed with inviting six creditors to increase their stakes in Valin’s three subsidiaries either via cash or the credits held against these enterprises as a solution for Valin to further reduce its and the subsidiaries’ debt-asset ratios, according to the company disclosure on December 5.
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Jingye Group (Jingye), China’s leading rebar producer and based in North China’s Hebei province, will build three 1,500 cu m blast furnaces and one 150-tonne converter by the end of 2020, according to an announcement published by the provincial government’s Industry and Information Technology Department on December 3.
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The price of Tangshan Q235 150mm square billet in North China’s Hebei province, a key indicator of China’s steel market sentiment, recovered by Yuan 70/tonne ($10.2/t) on day to Yuan 3,330/t including the 16% VAT as of December 5, mainly as the market sentiment was boosted with the speculation that the Tangshan government may enhance the efforts in the battle against the air pollution.
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The government of Tangshan, China’s top steelmaking city, has again urged local steel mills to halt blast furnaces in accordance with the winter production curb guideline it published in early November, according to a Tangshan government announcement circulating in the market since the afternoon of December 4.
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Ferrous commodity futures contracts on Chinese exchanges rallied strongly on Monday as investors were heartened by news that Beijing and Washington had decided on a time-out in their trade dispute, boosting market sentiment, Mysteel noted on Monday.
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Two steel producers in North China’s Shanxi province, Jincheng Fusheng Iron and Steel Co in Jincheng City and Huaxinyuan Iron and Steel Co in Hejin City, plan to build new facilities in their existing works, an official from Shanxi provincial government’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) confirmed on Monday.
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China’s Tangshan Q235 150mm square billet price in North China’s Hebei province rebounded forcefully by Yuan 150/tonne ($21.6/t) from last Friday to Yuan 3,230/t EXW and including the 16% VAT as of December 2, mainly on the encouragement of positive signals with the ease in the tension between China and the US on the trade friction.
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After a modest rebound in October, China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index for the steel industry reversed down again in November by 6.9 basis points on month to 45.2, or a new low since July 2016, mainly due to the sluggish demand and the bearish market sentiment, according to the latest release by the official index compiler - CFLP Steel Logistics Professional Committee (CSLPC) on November 30.
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China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the country’s manufacturing industry decreased another 0.2 basis point on month to 50 in November, right at the threshold still suggesting of an expansion, and it had been above 50 for 28 successive months, according to the latest release by China’s National Bureau of Statistics on November 30, but it was slightly below the market expectation at 50.2.
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China’s national average price for HRB400 20mm dia rebar price, after nearly a month of declines, finally reversed up by Yuan 15/tonne ($2.2/t) on day to Yuan 4,006/t including the 16% VAT as of November 29, for regaining the Yuan 4,000/t level after having lost the ground for 19 days.
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Stainless steel producers in Taiwan continued to cut their stainless prices for sales in December, mainly due to the further decline in nickel prices and the sluggish demand both at home and aboard amid the slowing economy, market source shared on November 29.
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Chinese steel demand in 2019 could weaken slightly from that forecast for this year, and the high profitability Chinese steel mills have enjoyed for much of this year seems unlikely to be sustained into next year, according to market pundits canvassed by Mysteel Thursday.
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China’s domestic stainless steel produces have cut list prices for 300-series cold-rolled stainless products by Yuan 100-300/tonne ($14-43/t) for daily sales effective from November 28. The stainless makers were responding to the lacklustre domestic stainless market and the continuing declines in carbon steel prices, said market insiders.
