Members' daily crude steel output stays steady in mid-July

Daily crude steel output among the member mills of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) kept largely stable during July 11-20, with the tonnage nudging down by 0.4% or 7,000 tonnes/day from the first ten days of July to average 2.02 million t/d, according to the latest release from the association on July 25.

Moreover, the average was lower by a larger 5.9% compared with the level during the corresponding period last year, the CISA statistics revealed.

Based on the performance of its member mills, CISA estimated that daily crude steel output among both member mills and non-member mills during July 11-20 decreased by the same 0.4% from early July to average 2.72 million t/d.

On the other hand, daily finished steel output among CISA member mills averaged 1.93 million t/d over July 11-20, rising by 2.5% or 47,000 t/d from the first ten days of this month, according to the release.

Despite the mild rise, the production volume was still 5.9% lower compared with the middle ten days of last month, Mysteel Global calculated based on the association's data.

The contracting output in July can be largely attributed to the mills' worsening margin losses from finished steel sales, Mysteel Global noted.

Only 86 of the 247 steelmakers under Mysteel's tracking said that they can earn money from finished steel sales in mid-July, marking the lowest number since late-September 2024.

The modest gain in finished steel production has also extended the accumulation of finished steel inventories held by the CISA member mills, with the tonnage mounting significantly by 8.1% or 1.36 million tonnes from July 10 to reach 18.13 million tonnes as of July 20, according to another CISA report published on the same day.

But the relatively low production level also reduced delivery volumes from steelmakers to traders over the period, which partly resulted in a small decline of retail finished steel inventories over mid-July, Mysteel Global noted.

Specifically, the tonnage of finished steel products held by traders in the 21 cities CISA checks edged down by just 0.7% or 70,000 tonnes in the mid-July period to 9.62 million tonnes as of July 20, another CISA release revealed.

Source:Mysteel Global