Steel News Roundup

SHANGHAI, Dec 28 (SMM) — This is a roundup of news in the steel industry for last week.

Beijing closes the chapter of iron ore mining, final two miners ceased operations

On December 17, 2020, law enforcement officers from Miyun District of Beijing Municipality and Beijing Emergency Management Bureau withdrew the safety production licenses of Shouyun Mining and Beijing Weike Metallurgical. According to the “Beijing Master Plan 2016-2035” and requirements of the Miyun District government, the two iron ore companies must stop mining operations by December 20, 2020. This means the history of iron ore mining in Beijing has come to an end Shouyun Mining was founded in 1959 and is the largest mining and beneficiation enterprise in Beijing. It has proven ore reserves of more than 140 million mt and a designed production capacity of 1.5 million mt per year, with annual production of 500,000 mt of iron ore concentrates, while Beijing Weike Metallurgical has an annual output of 500,000 mt of iron ore concentrates.

Production and inventory of key steel enterprises in mid-December 2020

During December 11-20, 2020, key steel enterprises produced a total of 22.02 million mt of crude steel, 19.35 million mt of pig iron, 21.37 million mt of finished steel, and 3.26 million mt of coke. The average daily output of crude steel in this period was 2.2 million mt, a decrease of 0.04% from the previous 10 days and an increase of 13.49% year-on-year. The average daily output of pig iron was 1.95 million mt, a decrease of 0.77% from the previous 10 days and an increase of 11.79% year-on-year. The average daily output of finished steel was 2.14million mt, an increase of 2.01% from the previous 10 days and 13.6% year-on-year. Steel inventory of these key steel enterprises totalled 13.05 million mt, an increase of 2.92% over the previous 10-day period and 36.91% from the beginning of the year. This also rose 18.54% over the same period last year.

 China Baowu's steel output exceeded 100 million mt in 2020

On December 23, China Baowu Group announced that its steel output in 2020 has exceeded 100 million mt. It is China's first steel group to achieve an annual output of 100 million mt of steel and also the world's largest crude steel producer.

Through mergers and reorganizations, China Baowu has operations across five major regions (east China, central China, south China, north-west China and south-west China). Unlike the mode of reorganization of state-owned steel enterprises by private enterprises in recent years, the reorganization by China Baowu is the integration of high-quality resources, and there is no need to invest a lot of money for revitalising loss-making steel companies.

In early December, Guangdong Shaoguan Iron and Steel, a subsidiary of China Baowu, was renamed as Baowu Group Zhongnan Iron and Steel, and its headquarters was also moved from Shaoguan to Guangzhou. This may signal its intention of integrating steel companies in central and south China with the help of the new platform.

New starts of urban construction covered 39,700 residents from January to November

New starts of urban construction have covered 39,700 residents or 7.25 million households from January to November, largely completing the plan from the governmental report, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on December 24.

BHP to restart iron ore production in Brazil

BHP has announced recently that its restart operations were approved according to requirements after the severe dam disaster in Brazil in 2015. Samarco, a joint venture with Vale, has begun producing iron ore pellets.

Tariff rate on coke imported from Mongolia to be reduced from 5% to 2.5%

Tariff rate on coke imported from Mongolia will be reduced from the 5% to 2.5% of the agreed rate from January 1, 2021.

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