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March is proving to be a tough month for local steel mills in North China’s steel hub of Tangshan, as local government authorities are busy trying to ensure that the city reaches the target it set itself for improving air quality during the winter season spanning last October to this March. Tangshan, which spans 13,500 sq kms and is home to 7.8 million people, also boasts around 116 million tonnes/year of steel capacity, Mysteel notes.
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The total volume of coking coal China imported in February plunged by a huge 60.5% on month or by 5% on year to 2.91 million tonnes, a 45-month low, according to the data from China’s General Administration of Customs published on March 22. Besides the disruptions caused by the long Chinese New Year holiday in February, the slow-down or suspension of Customs clearance on all types of foreign coal also impacted the country’s coking coal imports from late January, market sources observed.
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Mild volatility was seen in China’s graphite electrode market over the past week, with Mysteel’s benchmark price for 600mm ultra-high-power (UHP) grade electrode in East China’s Jiangsu province easing by Yuan 2,000/t ($298.8/t) on week to settle at Yuan 54,000/t including the 16% VAT as of March 22. The current price is still some Yuan 77,000/t or about 60% lower than this time last year, according to Mysteel’s data base.
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The benchmark price of Q235 150mm square billet in Tangshan, the barometer of China’s steel market, reversed up by Yuan 10/tonne ($1.5/t) over the weekend to Yuan 3,460/t EXW and including the 16% VAT as of March 24. This negated last Friday’s Yuan 10/t dip but the decline since March 19 remains at Yuan 80/t.
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Chinese imported iron ore prices of seaborne cargoes enjoyed a remarkable gain on March 22, with Mysteel’s 62% Australian iron ore fines price index for seaborne cargoes jumping by $2.05/dmt on day to reach $86.1/dmt CFR Qingdao. However, the price of ore of the same grade and origin at the ports was largely static at Yuan 625/wmt ($93.3/wmt) FOT Qingdao including 16% VAT, having risen by only Yuan 1/wmt on day.
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The government of Qian’an, the largest ironmaking and in ore-producing area in Tangshan in North China’s Hebei province, has advised a total of 126 local miners and beneficiation plants that they must suspend production over March 19-31 in order to improve the city’s air quality, Mysteel confirmed Friday.
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The price of the most-traded rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for May delivery reached Yuan 3,768/tonne ($562/t) at the end of the daytime trading session on Friday, retreating for a third straight working day and down by Yuan 29/t from Thursday’s settlement price.
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The total of coke stocks being held by the 230 independent coke plants across China which Mysteel monitors weekly surged by another 176,300 tonnes or 14% on week to reach 1.44 million tonnes as of March 21, Mysteel’s latest survey published on March 22 showed. Market sources attributed the rise in inventories to the slow-down in buying of merchant coke by both steel mills and coke traders.
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The capacity utilization of the blast furnaces at 247 Chinese steel plants nationwide under Mysteel’s weekly survey rebounded over March 15-21, up 0.92 percentage point on week to 77.5% with some blast furnaces back on line after the maintenance, according to Mysteel’s latest survey released on March 22.
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Imported iron ore inventories at the 45 major Chinese ports inclined for the sixth successive week over March 15-21, though the week-on-week incline was only 185,600 tonnes and the total volume, therefore, remained largely unchanged at 147.9 million tonnes as of March 21, according to Mysteel’s latest weekly survey released on March 22.
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Vale updated the development with its 30 million tonnes/year Brucutu mine on March 21 Brazilian time, confirming that the mine has been allowed to return to operations in three day upon the final approval from the related governing body.
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Mysteel’s national average price for HRB400 20mm dia rebar strengthened for the fourth successive day though the day-on-day increment was only Yuan 1/tonne ($0.15/t) to Yuan 4,098/t as of March 21, as it has been finding support from the firm downstream demand, the continuing declines in finished steel inventories, and the continuing market optimism.
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Chinese prices of imported iron ore kept stable on March 21, with Mysteel’s 62% Australian iron ore fines price index for seaborne cargoes marginally higher by $0.2/dmt on day at $84.05/dmt CFR Qingdao, while the rise in price of iron ore with the same grade and origin at the ports was larger at Yuan 6/wmt ($0.9/wmt) the same day and taking the price to Yuan 624/wmt FOT Qingdao including 16% VAT.
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Some leading steelmakers in North and East China have pared back their procurement prices for merchant coke by another Yuan 100/t ($15/t), citing the higher coke stocks on hand, market sources told Mysteel on March 20.
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A significant pickup in the speed at which Chinese consumers of finished steel are digesting retail stocks of finished-steel has given an unexpected boost to the country’s steel scrap market, Mysteel has learned. Market sources Thursday said scrap prices had ceased declining and that most scrap traders are reluctant to sell more as they believe prices are likely to increase to some degree in the near future.
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Iron ore producers and shippers based in Western Australia’s Pilbara are bracing for the arrival of Tropical Cyclone Veronica which by mid-afternoon Thursday was about 500 kilometres north-west of Port Hedland and packing winds gusting at up to 230 km/hour.
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Vale announced to have suspended the operations of its Alegria mine in the Mariana complex of the Southeastern System on a preventive basis on March 20, and the mine is capable of producing up to 10 million tonnes/year iron ore.
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Chinese Customs officials at Urad Middle Banner, an administrative region in North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region which borders Mongolia, rejected 182 trucks containing 19,540 tonnes of “unqualified” Mongolia-origin coal during the period between last November 27 and March 9, according to a March 19 report by ‘China Quality News’, a news portal operated by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation.
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The city government of Shijiazui, the only production base for silicomanganese (SiMn) in Northwest China’s Ningxia Autonomous Region, has launched intensive checks on the operation of submerged arc furnaces (SAFs) for ferroalloys production, according to an announcement from the city’s Industry and Information Technology Bureau on March 18.
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Chinese prices of imported iron ore plunged on March 20, with Mysteel’s 62% Australian iron ore fines price index for seaborne cargoes falling by $3/dmt on day to reach $83.85/dmt CFR Qingdao, while the plunge in the price of ore of the same grade and origin at the ports was even larger at Yuan 25/wmt ($3.7/wmt), resulting in the price settling at Yuan 618/wmt FOT Qingdao including 16% VAT.
