China's daily crude steel output recovers in early-Nov

Daily crude steel output among the member mills of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) averaged 1.93 million tonnes/day during November 1-10, rebounding significantly by 6% or by a 109,000 t/d after the deep loss in late-October, according to the latest release from the association on November 13.

Despite the swift recovery, the average still posted an on-year decline of 8.1% from the same ten-day period last year, the release showed.

Based on the same dataset, CISA estimated that China's nationwide crude steel output over November 1-10 averaged 2.35 million t/d, gaining by the same 6% from late-October.

CISA attributed the broad production uptick to the lifting of output restrictions imposed on steelmakers in some parts of northern China such as Hebei province in a bid to reduce atmospheric pollution over urban areas, according to the release.

During November 1-10, daily crude steel output among the CISA member mills in Hebei posted the largest provincial output gain, up by 14.5% or 53,000 t/d from the last eleven-day period, accounting for 48.6% of the nationwide rise of 109,000 t/d, Mysteel Global calculated based on the CISA release.

By region, CISA member mills in East China recorded the broadest growth in production, with the daily crude steel output climbing by 10.1% or 52,000 t/d from late-October. Specifically, daily crude steel output among member mills in Anhui and Fujian provinces surged by 46.5% or 22,000 t/d and 43.3% or 18,000 t/d respectively from October 21-31, contributing the most to the regional output rise.

In contrast, the volume of finished steel produced by the member mills declined during the first ten days of November, with daily output dropping by 5.5% or 111,000 t/d from late-October to average 1.88 million t/d, the release showed.

Nevertheless, the contraction in finished steel demand outpaced that of production over November 1-10, resulting in the substantial accumulation of finished steel stocks, Mysteel Global noted.

Specifically, finished steel inventories held by CISA member mills totalled 15.49 million tonnes as of November 10, up by 5.9% or 860,000 tonnes from the last eleven days in October, according to another CISA release also published on Thursday.

Source:Mysteel Global