China Ferrous Market Weekly Wrap Up - April 9, 2024
Mysteel Global
Latest updates on steel&iron ore, coke&coal, base metals, battery materials, energy&chemicals, decarbonization path.
WEEKLY: China domestic iron ore prices continue falling
Chinese prices of domestically-produced iron ore concentrates lost further ground last week, with trading activity still being sluggish, market sources observed.
The downtrend in prices of iron ore derivatives early last week cast a shadow over the domestic iron ore market, prompting concs producers to cut their offering prices, a market analyst based in Shanghai noted.
WEEKLY: China's import coking coal prices fall again
Prices of imported coking coal in China for both seaborne cargoes and for Mongolian coal delivered overland continued to weaken during April 1-7, as most coal users purchased only small tonnages of the material to meet their actual production needs, Mysteel's weekly survey showed. April 7 was a substitute working day after the country's Qingming Festival holiday during April 4-6.
For Russian spot cargoes, the price for K4 premium coking coal had fallen by another Yuan 70/tonne ($9.7/t) from March 29 to settle at Yuan 1,580/t as of April 7, according to Mysteel's database. Similarly, prices for locally mined Inagli and Elga fat coal had also decreased by Yuan 70/t and Yuan 50/t from March 29 to Yuan 1,420/t and Yuan 1,230/t respectively by the same day, all on ex-warehouse basis at North China's Jingtang port and including the 13% VAT.
WEEKLY: Chinese coke plants' output keeps declining
China's coke production continued its downward trend this week, but the declining pace slowed as profit losses among most Chinese coke producers were mitigated somewhat, Mysteel has found.
The average daily coke output at the 230 Chinese independent coke plants under Mysteel's survey over March 28-April 3 stood at 474,000 tonnes/day, still at a low level but with a much smaller decrease of 300 t/d on week, as compared to the previous weekly decline of 4,300 t/d.
WEEKLY: China steel scrap prices rebound on tighter supply
Chinese steel scrap prices followed an upward trend during last week, supported mainly by the rapid decline in scrap availability in the market, market sources observed.
As of April 7, the national steel scrap price index was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 2,780.4/tonne ($392.2/t) including the 13% VAT, higher by Yuan 22.1/t from April 1.
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WEEKLY SUMMARY: China's major steel prices remain weak
China's prices of major steel products maintained the overall downtrend during April 1-7, though prices had recovered somewhat in the middle of the past week, Mysteel Global learned.
WEEKLY: China's rebar output edges up by 1.4% WoW
Rebar production among the 137 Chinese steel producers under Mysteel's tracking reversed up during March 28-April 3 after a three-week decline, rising by 1.4% or 28,900 tonnes on week to 2.13 million tonnes, according to Mysteel's weekly survey.
Survey respondents said some integrated mills had resumed production after overhauling their rolling mills, leading to a rebound in rebar output in several regions such as Central and Northeast China during the period.
WEEKLY: China's HRC output rises again, prices rebound
Output of hot-rolled coils (HRC) among the 37 Chinese flat steel producers Mysteel regularly monitors increased during April 1-5, gaining by another 36,100 tonnes or 1.12% on week to reach 3.26 million tonnes, Mysteel's latest weekly production survey shows. The rise represented the fifth straight weekly increase and occurred despite much of China being on holidays over April 4-6 for Qingming Festival celebrations.
WEEKLY: Tangshan billet prices fluctuate
Mysteel's assessment of the price of Q235 150mm square billet in North China's Tangshan was largely rangebound last week, reaching Yuan 3,280/tonne ($453/t) EXW and including the 13% VAT as of April 7, rising by Yuan 30/t on week. During the week, re-rollers in Tangshan were cautious regarding buying the semis, the results of the weekly survey show, and overall spot billet trading was lackluster due to China's Qingming Festival holiday over April 4-6.
Meanwhile, steelmakers saw their losses on billet sales narrow last week as prices of the semis bounced back while the mills' production costs eased, the survey pointed out.
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