The blast furnace capacity utilization rate among China’s 247 steel mills under Mysteel’s regular inched up for the second week over April 9-15, rising another 0.72 percentage point on week to 87.67%, as some steel mills in North and Central China ramped up their output on higher steel margins in the domestic market.
Over the survey period, these 247 mills produced 2.33 million tonnes/day of molten iron on average, up 19,300 t/d on week accordingly, and the operational rate of their blast furnaces also nudged up for the second week by another 0.26 percentage point on week to 78.13%.
All the higher performance was to do with the fact that some steel mills in North and Central China had beefed up the production, a survey conductor commented, as “domestic steel demand and prices have been improving, prompting mills to produce more,” she explained briefly.
In the near term, higher demand from the end-users including construction contractors and manufacturers and continuing declines in domestic finished steel stocks at both the traders and steel mills, and in turn higher steel prices and margins will probably lead to steady or even higher steel output nationwide, market sources agreed.
Spot trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the country’s 237 traders under Mysteel’s survey has been persisting above 200,000 t/d since March 22, and it once hit 320,508 t/d as of April 13.
By Thursday, inventories of rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and medium plate at the commercial warehouses in 132 Chinese cities decreased for the sixth straight week, down another 5.2% or 1.5 million tonnes to 26.9 million tonnes, Mysteel’s data shows.
Higher steel output saw inventories of imported iron ore at the 247 mills – including the volumes at plants, port stockyards and on the water – increased too by 1.72 million tonnes on week to 116.4 million tonnes as of April 15, sufficient for 40.1 days of consumption, or 0.23 day longer on week or exceeding 40 days for the first time since February 5.
Over the same survey period, Mysteel’s smaller-scale study among 163 BF steel plants across China remained largely stable, inched down by 0.18 percentage point to 71.36% as of April 15.
Written by Lindsey Liu, liulingxian@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.
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