Fuxin Special Steel to halt production for half a month for maintenance

China's stainless steel imports were 224,000 mt in April, an increase of 10.13% month-on-month and 95.9% year-on-year; exports (excluding stainless steel products) were 410,500 mt, an increase of 24.85% month-on-month and 31.09% year-on-year. The total stainless steel exports were 498,400 mt.

The low-end traded prices of #304 cold-rolled products stood at 15,700-15,800 yuan/mt. Commodities prices surged on Thursday evening with nickel leading price gains.

The nickel industry is in the limelight in the non-ferrous metals commodities market since 2020, as demand and supply fundamentals have become more volatile.

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.

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%.

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,

Industrial activity levels outside of central China continues to improve as workers return from quarantine periods and logistics pressures eased.

Heavy air pollution will hit the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas