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China’s iron ore prices gained on January 17, with Mysteel’s price index for portside 62% Fe Australian iron ore fines (PORTDEX 62% Fe Australian iron ore fines) reversing up by Yuan 6/wmt ($0.86/wmt) on day to reach Yuan 679/wmt FOT Qingdao including the 13% VAT. On the same day, Mysteel’s price index for seaborne 62% Fe Australian iron ore fines (SEADEX 62% Fe Australian iron ore fines) nudged up $0.5/dmt on day to $95.75/dmt CFR Qingdao.
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Brazilian miner Vale, the world’s top iron ore miner, has decided to suspend waste and tailings operations at its Esperança mine in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais state, Southeast Brazil, according to an official announcement released on its website on January 16 local time.
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Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto has set its Pilbara iron ore shipments guidance for 2020 at 330-343 million tonnes, which is higher than last year’s final guidance of 320 to 330 million tonnes, according to the firm’s latest quarterly production report released on January 17. All tonnage is on 100% basis, Mysteel notes.
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Rebar prices in China’s physical market stayed steady over the week of January 13-17 as market activity quietened markedly with the approach of Chinese New Year. Prices in the futures market also remain rangebound, and market sources told Mysteel Global they doubted they would see any significant changes in prices before the holiday.
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China’s crude steel output totalled 996 million tonnes for full year 2019, representing a jump of 8.3% compared with the total for 2018 and hitting an all-time high, according to the latest statistics released by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on January 17.
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China’s production of raw coal for all uses increased by 4.2% on year to reach 3.7 billion tonnes in 2019, according to data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) published on January 17. Domestic coke output grew too, rising by 5.2% on year to reach 471.3 million tonnes, the NBS statistics show.
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For 2019, China’s gross domestic product grew 6.1% on year to Yuan 99 trillion ($14 trillion), with the final result coming within the central government’s targeted range for last year of 6-6.5%, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data released on the release on January 17. “Most of the tasks were fulfilled, laying a solid foundation for China to develop into a well-off society,” NBS commented.
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Fixed asset investment (FAI) in China’s manufacturing sector grew by a total of 5.4% on year during full year 2019, up 0.2 percentage point from the first eleven months, according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Friday. FAI in the domestic property market increased by 9.9% on year during January-December, though this was off by a tiny 0.3 percentage point from the January-November reading, the data show.
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Blast furnace capacity utilization among the 247 blast-furnace steel companies across China which Mysteel surveys weekly decreased further by 0.53 percentage point on week to 78.88% over the week of January 10-16, according to Mysteel’s latest survey published on January 17. The use rate was still 2.43 percentage points higher than this time last year, however.
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Stocks of imported iron ore at China’s 45 major ports increased by a small 360,700 tonnes or 0.3% on week to 123.7 million tonnes as of January 16, after declining for two weeks straight which saw 3.57 million tonnes removed, Mysteel's latest weekly survey showed. The rise in inventories followed the easing of congestion at some ports and largely offset the higher overall daily discharge of ore during the period, respondents said.
