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China’s steel mills continued their iron ore replenishment on September 27 ahead of the upcoming National Day holiday over October 1-7, with ore prices also gaining.
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Over January-August, Chinese steel mills’ overall performance improved substantially, and the profitability in steel sales among the member mills of the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) averaged 6.2%, or up 2.56 percentage points on year, and their debt-asset ratio reduced 1.68 percentage points on year to 61.43% by the end of August, He Wenbo, CISA’s executive chairman, shared at a industrial forum on September 24.
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Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer headquartered in Taichung, Central Taiwan, has decided to roll over its rebar list price and procurement price of locally-sourced scrap for business over September 27-October 1 to monitor market changes during the period, a company official confirmed on Monday.
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China’s prices of ferromolybdenum (FeMo) declined for a fourth week over September 22-26 but at a faster pace than previously, according to Mysteel’s assessment. Market sources attributed the price slump to ongoing efforts by domestic stainless steelmakers to cut their bidding prices while clamps remain on their steel output.
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After conceding ground on no fewer than 11 occasions since late July – and suffering a cumulative hit to their bottom lines of around Yuan 1,560/tonne ($241.4/t) – some steelmakers in North China’s Shanxi province have decided to push back against their coke suppliers, announcing a Yuan 200/t cut in coke procurement prices, Mysteel Global has learned.
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Chinese steel exports have stayed slack recently partly due to the low demand from major buying countries and the difficulties in chartering vessels for the shipments, industry insiders shared on Monday.
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Shagang Group (Shagang), a leading electric-arc-furnace (EAF) steelmaker in China, has added Yuan 50/tonne ($7.7/t) onto its domestic steel scrap procurement price starting September 27, which is interpreted by the market sources as an attempt to encourage more deliveries from the buyers.
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Freight charges for dry bulk vessels are surging faster amid the firm demand for bulk capacity in the global market, with the Baltic Dry Index (BDI), the dry bulk carrier market’s key indicator, soaring to a near 12-year high of 4,651 points on September 23. Though the BDI slid the next day to 4,644, the index was still higher by another 443 points on month.
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Chinese domestic prices of steel scrap continued to edge down during the week of September 17-24, Mysteel’s latest weekly survey has found, with scrap consumption among domestic steel mills continuing to fall, given the stringent curbs on steel output nationwide.
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Inquiries for seaborne coking coal cargoes submitted by Chinese end-users and traders declined last week, with more buyers adopting a wait-and-see stance in response to weakening demand and signs that domestic coal prices are reversing down, according to sources.
