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Chinese spot prices of 304-grade stainless steel fluctuated widely over October 11-15, with the declines being especially significant, Mysteel's latest survey shows. Market sources said last week's spot price swings were in sync with stainless futures prices, and that end-users' demand remains low.
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The shortage of semiconductors for auto applications continues to impact vehicle manufacturing in China but the problem is likely to ease this quarter compared with Q3, officials from the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) maintained at a press conference in Beijing held on October 19.
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China's domestic price of high-carbon ferrochrome (FeCr) showed signs of weakening after four consecutive weeks of inclines recently, as the overall market sentiment has been dampened by possible higher production from some smelters on the easing in curbing and Tsingshan Holding Group's latest announcement to roll over FeCr procurement price, Mysteel noted from the latest weekly survey on the market.
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In September, Japan's steel exports of all kinds approximated 2.94 million tonnes, up 19.2% on year and 0.7% higher on month, according to the preliminary data released by Japan's Ministry of Finance on October 20, which may have been maximum volume that Japanese steel mills could allocate for overseas sales, sources shared.
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On October 19, China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel's assessment dipped for the seventh working day though the pace slowed with the on-day decline at just Yuan 4/tonne ($0.6/t), while spot sales of construction steel including rebar gained for the second working day by 5.1% on day, as demand showed signs of modest pick-up.
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The Indian induction furnace (IF) steel market saw volatility in prices on 18 Oct’21 as steel prices of the mid-sized mills fluctuated in the range of INR 50-800/tonne (t) across the country, d-o-d.
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Ferrous scrap prices in India have hit a 10-year high, not just due to prevailing positive sentiments in the semis and finished steel markets after the gradual lifting of COVID-related regional lockdowns in Q1 FY'22. Other factors driving the rally in the domestic scrap market are the fast-rising prices of substitutes such as sponge iron and tightness in scrap availability, SteelMint notes. Importantly, the ongoing coal crisis and resultant rally in seaborne prices have triggered the rally in domestic sponge iron prices, while power shortage in the country threatens to impact production at different levels.
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China's total energy consumption continued growing over January-September, rising by 7.3% on year, according to data from China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) published on October 19. However, affected by energy use and intensity control, the growth slowed by 7.3 percentage points and 3.2 percentage points from Q1 and H1 respectively. Meanwhile, the country's energy consumption per GDP unit – or energy intensity – dropped 2.3% on year, which was wider by 0.3 percentage point from H1.
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The Purchasing Managers’ Index for the steel industry in North China’s Hebei province, the country’s top steel production base, retreated for the second month in September to a 19-month low of 43, lower by another 4.3 basis point on month, according to the latest release by the Hebei Metallurgical Industry Association on its website.
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Shagang Group, China’s largest privately-owned steel producer based in East China’s Jiangsu province, began slashing production from October 19, as the severe power shortages had prompted the province to elevate controls on power usage, sources close to the steelmaker confirmed.
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China’s economy will continue with its recovery and the progress towards high-quality development, and the country will be capable to achieve its economic and social development targets for 2021, Fu Linghui, spokesperson of the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), shared with confidence at the bureau’s press conference on October 18.
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China’s steel export market remained tepid last week, even though the price gaps between Chinese sellers and their major competitors narrowed, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly report. By contrast, Chinese interest in imports, especially those of wire rod, became more active, trader sources say.
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On October 18, Mysteel's assessments showed that China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar slipped for the sixth working day by another Yuan 57/tonne ($8.9/t) from last Friday, and spot sales of construction steel including rebar still hovered low despite a recovery of 2% from last Friday, showing market trading enthusiasm stayed tepid.
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Prices of all key input materials for steel-making have increased substantially except for iron ore, data compiled by SteelMint reveals.
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The semi-finished steel market registered a sharp surge in prices due to supply shortage and improve demand during the week 42 (11-16 Sept’21). Domestic billet prices rose by INR 1,700-3,500/t & sponge iron prices gained by INR 1,400-2,300/t in a week’s trade.
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For the July-September quarter, capacity utilization rate among China’s industrial enterprises averaged 77.1%, up 0.4 percentage point on year but down 1.3 percentage points on quarter, partly as ferrous and nonferrous smelting and fabrication plants and automakers posted on-year declines, according to the release by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on October 18.
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Over January-September, China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 9.8% on year to Yuan 82.3 trillion ($12.8 trillion) with the GDP growth for Q3 having slowed to 4.9% on year against the 7.9% on-year gain for Q2 or the 18.3% on-year rise for Q1, though all the key economic indicators stayed within reasonable ranges until September, the country's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shared on October 18.
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Over January-September, the growth in China’s fixed asset investment (FAI) trended down further to 7.3% on year to Yuan 39.8 trillion ($6.2 trillion), among which, that in the property market grew a lower rate too, up 8.8% on year to Yuan 11.3 trillion, and both saw their on-year growths slow since the start of 2021, according to the release by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on October 18.
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Over January-September, the growth in China's crude steel output slowed to 2% on year to 805.9 million tonnes against the 5.3% on-year rise for January-August, and the daily crude steel output for September fell to a new low since January 2019, Mysteel Global noted from the release by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on October 18, due to the wider-range and severer power rationing in the country.
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Over October 11-15, China’s domestic steel prices including rebar and hot-rolled coil (HRC) eased in both spot and futures markets, largely due to the pessimistic market sentiment in the near term, Mysteel Global noted.
