A ban in Tangshan requires that all steel mills except those that undertake civil heating task will have to stop sintering machines from 20th to 31st Dec. along with production limit in areas such as Shandong and Henan provinces in line with environmental protection policy, and apparently increased maintenance of steel mills, the price of finished steel today is upward adjusted to see the rebar price in various places generally raised by RMB 20-50/MT amid bullish atmosphere to shove up price amongst concerned parties. Moreover, this week’s inventory data shows that steel mill stocks have dropped significantly. At this stage, both cost and supply have support for steel prices, and the short-term domestic finished steel market is running stronger.
Domestic scrap prices up
The price increase of the steel scrap continued, and the mainstream steel mills in Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hebei, Shandong etc have raised price by RMB20-50/MT. Recently, the environmental protection and production limit has gradually tightened, ushering in a wave of support for finished product, which will benefit the scrap price. In addition, the scrap supply is still tight, and the short-term scrap market is expected to continue to strengthen.
GE prices stabilized
After the previous wave of decline, the current graphite electrode market has stabilized, and the electrode companies have no intention to continue to cut prices, forming a stable market in the short term. According to the statistics of the Carbon Industry Association, the total export volume of China’s graphite electrode in January-October 2018 was 112,398 tons, an increase of 46.93% over the same period of last year. The total export volume of RP graphite electrode was 10,256 tons, an increase of 22.71% over the same period of last year. The total export volume of HP GE was 30,521 tons, an increase of 24.81% over the same period of last year. The total export volume of UHP GE was 71,621 tons, a year-on-year increase of 63.95%.
Billet prices rise
Meanwhile the steel billets rose by RMB 50, prompting mining companies to raise prices, and some steel mills are also in a position to buy at higher prices. It is expected that the price of iron fines will be strong in the near future. In the coke market, following the increasing production limit on blast furnaces as a result of environmental production, coke purchases have been slowed down, and the inventory of coke plants has increased. It is expected that the short-term coke market will tend to be weak.
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