China: Steel inventory of CISA mills rises in early Mar’23

Steel inventory at China Iron and Steel Association (CISA)-affiliated mills rose in early-March 2023. However, crude steel production dropped in the same period.

Steel inventory:

• Steel inventory at CISA mills stood at 17.74 million tonnes (mnt) in early-March. Volumes rose by 284,300 tonnes (t) or 1.63% over 17.41 mnt in late-February.
• Inventory dropped by 325,400 t or 1.80% compared to early-February.
• Inventory increased by 1.02 mnt or  6.13% compared to the year-ago period.

Crude steel output:

• The average daily crude steel output of CISA-affiliated mills stood at 2.15 mnt in early-March, down 3.08% from late-February.
• The average daily finished steel output stood at 2.02 mnt in the period under review, down 10.39% m-o-m. The same grew by 5.8% y-o-y.
• The average daily pig iron output stood at 1.92 mnt in early-March, down by 4.13% m-o-m and up 10.2% y-o-y.