Daily crude steel output at CISA key mills inched up 0.35% in mid January

The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) reported that crude steel output across major mills in China averaged 2.27 million mt per day in the first ten days of April, up 2.88% from late March and up 16.86% from the same period a year ago.

The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) reported that crude steel output across major mills in China averaged 2.14 million mt per day in the second 10 days of December, down 0.04% from early December and up 13.49% from the same period a year ago.

Operating rates at domestic iron ore mines in October rose 0.7 percentage point from September, with operating rates at private mines 0.4 percentage point higher and 1.1 percentage points higher at state-owned mines.

China’s imports of steel products soared last month as coronavirus containment measures dealt a hefty blow to foreign demand and pulled prices overseas lower. Data published by China’s General Administration of Customs on Tuesday showed that China imported 1.14 million mt of steel products in March, up 26.3% from a year earlier. Total imports in the first three months of 2020 came in at 3.18 million mt, with a year-over-year increase of 9.7%.

China produced about 3,500 mt in metal content of cobalt sulphate in March, 94% higher on the month, showed SMM data, as cobalt salt producers resumed 70-80% of their capacity last month amid a slowdown in the spread of the coronavirus in China. 

Planned output of construction steel rebar across China’s major blast furnace steelmakers in April stood roughly flat from the actual production in March, as the impact of maintenance may offset the increase in output driven by higher profits. 

SMM data showed that HRC stocks across social warehouses and steelmakers decreased 3.59% in the week ended April 9 to 5.26 million mt, marking a fourth straight week of decline and larger than a 2.2% fall in the previous week.

China’s top steelmaking hub, Tangshan in Hebei province, has issued its air pollution control plan for April, continuing to exempt steelmakers that are graded as A and B on their environmental status,

Smelters in Jiangxi minimally received the impact of environmental curbs, which prevented a significant decline in local output

High costs and low steel prices have pushed them to the verge of losses