Over December 2-15, stocks of imported iron ore sintering fines at the 64 Chinese steelmakers under Mysteel’s tracking touched a low since the survey was commenced on July 4 2014, with the total declining to 13.8 million tonnes, down for the fourth week by another 877,100 tonnes or 6% on fortnight. Market sources cited steel mills’ less buying to explain the drop.
Steel mills in most regions across China have further slowed their buying for imported sintering fines over the past two weeks, mainly due to their weakened demand amid the stringent production curbs, according to a Shanghai-based analyst.
Steelmakers in Tangshan, in North China’s Hebei province, for example, have been reining in their operations of sintering machines and blast furnaces under the emergency curbs imposed by the local government since December 2 due to poor air quality, and the curbs have yet been lifted, as reported.
Moreover, truck transportation of iron ore from Tangshan’s ports to local mills has also been partly banned due to another curb effective on December 3, and that led to lower stocks held by these mills, the analyst added.
“On the other hand, demand for imported ore from most steelmakers was dampened further by the increasing prices,” she said.
For example, Mysteel PORTDEX 62% Australian Fines in Qingdao climbed by Yuan 40/wmt ($6.3/wmt) on fortnight to Yuan 732/wmt FOT and including the 13% VAT as of December 15.
Meanwhile, over December 2-15, the daily consumption of imported iron ore sintering fines at the 64 surveyed steelmakers decreased to 439,200 tonnes/day, or having retreated after four weeks of rises by 38,000 t/d or 8% on fortnight, Mysteel’s data showed.
At their present rate of consumption, the existing tonnage should be enough to keep the mills operating for around 28 days, two days less than the previous survey.
“The decline in mills’ daily use of sintering fines was mainly due to the production curbs on their sintering machines and blast furnaces,” the analyst noted.
Written by Lea Li, liye@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
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