Blast furnace capacity utilization among the 247 steel mills across China surveyed by Mysteel nudged up for the second successive week over December 18-24, rising slightly by another 0.19 percentage point on week to 91.87%, indicating that most Chinese steel mills are still not inclined to control production while steel profits are healthy.
Over December 18-24, these 247 mills produced 2.45 million tonnes/day of molten iron on average, also up 5,100 t/d, and the operational rate of their blast furnaces also rose slightly by 0.26 percentage point on week to 85.55%.
The relatively high prices of finished steel and continuing decline in steel stocks have given Chinese steelmakers the confidence to maintain high production, Mysteel Global noted.
The national price of HRB400 20mm dia rebar had touched a 25-month high of Yuan 4,579/tonne ($701/t) on December 22 but declined soon after to reach Yuan 4,438/t as of December 24. However, the price was still Yuan 270/t higher on week, Mysteel’s data shows. All prices include the 13% VAT.
As of December 24, stocks of the five major finished steel products held by traders in the 132 Chinese cities Mysteel monitors fell for the eleventh successive week, easing by another 2.1% on week to 12.8 million tonnes, according to Mysteel’s survey. The five comprise rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil and medium plate.
By December 24, inventories of imported iron ore sintering fines held by the 247 mills (including the volumes at plants, port stockyards and on the water) decreased for a second week by another 151,900 tonnes on week to 115.1 million tonnes, or sufficient for 37.97 days of consumption at their present daily utilization rate – 0.15 day shorter on week, according to Mysteel’s data.
Over the same survey period of December 18-24, Mysteel’s smaller-scale study among 163 blast-furnace steel plants across China showed a marginally different trend, as their furnace capacity utilization dipped by a tiny 0.01 percentage point on week to 77.58%
Written by Lindsey Liu, liulingxian@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
Photo: World Steel Association
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