Daily crude steel output fell by 3.7%, or 77,300 tonnes/day, to average 2.02 million tonnes/day in the last 11 days of January. However, on a year-on-year basis, daily production increased by 1.5 per cent.
Market sources attributed the decline in daily steel output to several domestic steel mills cutting production in response to shrinking steel margins and shutting down operations for maintenance work due to the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday.
China's domestic steel demand continued to contract in late January, which weakened producers' enthusiasm to increase output. In particular, spot rebar, wire rod and bar coil trade volumes fell 44.3% from mid-January to average only 63,763 tonnes/day in the 21-31 January period.
Domestic steel prices fluctuated slightly during the same period, with HRB400E 20 mm diameter rebar assessed at 4,040 yuan/tonne ($562/tonne) as of 31 January.
In terms of stocks, finished steel stocks in the member mills decreased by 20.6%, or 3.2 million tons, compared to January 20, reaching a total of 12.2 million tons as of January 31.
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