NBS: China's 2023 rebar output falls 2% YoY

In parallel, last month's rebar output also slipped by 2% or 366,000 tonnes from November and marked the sixth on-month decline, Mysteel Global calculated based on the NBS statistics.

This result was in line with Mysteel's survey of rebar rolling capacity utilization among the 137 Chinese steelmakers it regularly tracks nationwide, which showed that by the end of December their run rate had averaged 55.21%, down 1.99 percentage points on month and lower by 4.34 percentage points on year.

Behind the further on-month drop in output last month was the fact that more Chinese steel mills commenced maintenance stoppages on steelmaking facilities, sources said. Others slowed production due to squeezed profit margins and the bleak prospects for demand among end-users.

Mysteel's other survey among the 51 rebar producers it follows showed that during December, their average loss on selling rebar was Yuan 201/tonne ($27.9/t), deepening by some Yuan 130/t on month. Higher production costs with rising raw materials prices were blamed.

For example, the Mysteel SEADEX 62% Australian Fines index for iron ore rose by $5.9/dmt on month to average $136.3/dmt CFR Qingdao in December. Meanwhile, China's national composite coke price under Mysteel's assessment also gained by Yuan 218.6/t during the same period to average Yuan 2,467.1/t.

On the other hand, Chinese spot rebar prices had been rangebound during December, with Mysteel assessing the country's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar at an average of Yuan 4,070/t including the 13% VAT last month, higher by Yuan 58/t on month.

In addition, rebar output accounted for 16.3% of China's total finished steel output in December, while its share of the country's total output for the whole year of 2023 was 16.6%, Mysteel Global calculated.

Written by Rong Zhang, zhangronga@mysteel.com

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com

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