A summary of production situation in the steel industry chain before the holiday

Published: Sep 27, 2020 11:33
SMM investigated more than 40 enterprises including steelmakers, traders and downstream.

SHANGHAI, Sep 27 (SMM) —  SMM investigated more than 40 enterprises including steelmakers, traders and downstream. The survey found that most of the steelmakers are in normal production, so the output is mostly stable. Downstream enterprises adopt more shift systems, and the holiday duration is mostly concentrated in 0-4 days. Trade enterprises have the longest vacation time, most of which are in accordance with legal holidays, while a few enterprises have less than four days.

 

Steelmakers: In view of the high marginal cost such as equipment suspension, the workers go to work normally, which means, the steelmakers maintains normal production during holidays, and the output of finished products will not fluctuate abnormally. The management personnel and staff in other necessary positions (such as purchasing, etc.) take the shift system.

 

Steel trade industry: Different trading companies have different holiday arrangements. Most steel trade companies implement statutory holiday arrangements, with eight days off. There are also a few enterprises whose holiday time is shortened by 1-3 days. Very few enterprises have a holiday shorter than 4 days.

 

In terms of regions, steel trading companies in North China mostly adopt the system of rotation, which basically ensures the normal order taking and delivery arrangement during holidays. In East China, the normal 8-day holiday is maintained, and some enterprises arrange 1-2 personnel on duty in turn.

 

According to the different products operated by steel trading companies, the holiday time of companies selling construction steel is relatively shorter than that of other steel companies, mainly considering that there is still a need to start construction at the end-user site during the National Day, and most companies have duty arrangements and a few shorten the holiday.

 

According to the category of the company, the large state-owned steel trade enterprises basically maintain eight-day holidays, and there are few duty arrangements. Small and medium-sized steel trade enterprises are different in the holiday arrangement.

 

Downstream enterprises: The holiday arrangements of each end-user industry are different in accordance with their own orders.

 

Manufacturing industry: The production departments with better orders have holidays ranging from zero to four days, and most of them adopt shift system, while the non-production departments have holidays according to national legal holidays. Among them, the manufacturing industry is worried about the accumulation of finished goods inventories, and the National Day holiday time is short, with an average of 1-3 days. The steel structure industry basically maintains shift production status, and the production departments of some companies have shift holidays ranging from 2 to 3 days. For companies with more orders in the automobile and household electrical appliances industries, the production department will have a holiday of 0-2 days. For companies with fewer orders, the production part has a holiday of about 4 days, while other departments have a normal holiday.

 

Construction and infrastructure industries: There is no "holiday" tradition during the National Day, and raw material stockpiling is basically completed by purchasing on demand before.

 

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM's internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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