CISA: Members' early Apr daily steel output at 11-month high

Daily crude steel output among member mills of China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) during the first 10 days of April increased further to hit an 11-month high of 2.32 million tonnes/day, according to the association's latest release on Thursday. The average daily output over April 1-10 was higher by another 2.7% or 61,300 t/d from late March, CISA noted.

Behind the rise in output was the fact that many Chinese mills kept high steel production during the survey period as they could still earn some money on steel sales despite the recent weakening in domestic steel prices, sources said.

Based on the latest results, CISA also estimated the country's daily crude steel output averaged 2.99 million t/d during early April, up by 1.3% from late March.

CISA's release matched the trend indicated by Mysteel's survey among a larger sample of 247 blast-furnace and 87 electric-arc-furnace steel mills across China, as their daily steel output also rose by another 1% or 29,600 t/d from March 21-31 to 3.08 million t/d on average in early April, as Mysteel Global reported.

Chinese finished steel prices have been softening since early April, mainly due to weaker-than-expected demand from end-users during the traditional peak season for steel consumption.

For example, as of April 10, the country's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar declined by Yuan 139/tonne ($20.2/t) from that on March 31 to near a 3.5-month low of Yuan 4,153/t including the 13% VAT.

In early April, the daily trading volume of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among 237 Chinese steel trading houses under Mysteel's survey slipped by 2,136 t/d or 1.3% from that in late March to average just 163,671 t/d.

Higher steel output and softer spot sales saw CISA member mills' finished steel stocks mount as of April 10, with the tonnage climbing by 6.2% or 1.1 million tonnes from end-March to total 18.3 million tonnes, according to the association.

Written by Rong Zhang, zhangronga@mysteel.com
Edited by Zhenqi Yang, yangzhenqi@mysteel.com

Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and Steelmint.