Maintenance at Chongqing Iron & Steel to impact HRC output by 10,000 mt/day

The total inventories of HRC stood at 2.925 million mt, up 3,600 mt or 0.12% on the week, and down 12.05% on the year.

Shanghai base metals were mostly lower on Tuesday morning as investors awaited the release of China's trade data for June. Meanwhile, their counterparts on the LME also fell for the most part.

China HRC stocks across social warehouses and steel makers started to fall this week amid lower output and improving end-user demand, ending a nine-week winning streak.

Major Chinese steelmakers are expected to see 151,000 mt of their hot-rolled coil (HRC) deliveries arriving at Shanghai, Lecong and Tianjin, three major Chinese markets this week, slightly up 3,000 mt from last week, showed an SMM survey.

Most steelmakers in China continued to maintain full operations and the impact of maintenance on output will further reduce from a month ago in June, driven by existing profits of rebar.

Output of cold-rolled steel (including galvanised steel) at Benxi Iron & Steel is expected to reduce 158,000 mt in May as the steelmaker plans to put a cold rolling mill into maintenance this month, sources told SMM. 

A copper smelter in south-west China has put its facilities into month-long maintenance as scheduled, sources told SMM. 

Tangsteel, a subsidiary of China's biggest steelmaker Hebei Iron and Steel Group (HBIS Group), planned to put its 1# galvanising lines into maintenance for three days from April 1, sources told SMM.

Inventories of hot-rolled coils of steel sheets used to produce home appliances and cars in China fell for a second straight this week, as mills conducted maintenance or shifted to rebar production. SMM data showed that HRC stocks across social warehouses and steelmakers decreased 1.38% in the week ended March 26 to 5.27 million mt, 70.08% higher than the same period after the Lunar New Year holiday last year.

SMM data showed that HRC stocks across social warehouses and steelmakers stood at 5.73 million mt as of Thursday March 5, some 57.3% higher than the same period after the Lunar New Year holiday last year.