International Steel Mills

Chinese Steel Market Analysis for Week Ending November 13th
Written by John Packard
November 15, 2016
The following analysis of the steel markets in China is from Beijing Metal Import & Export Co.,Ltd and is being reproduced by Steel Market Update with permission:
Today is Monday, Please allow us to update China steel market (Nov 07 – Nov 13, 2016) as usual as following:
In past week, market and non-market factors pushed China steel market to increase heavily.
First market factor is that the prices of raw materials reached the highest level in this year. Platts 62% index already stood @USD80.4/mt on last Friday and Ⅱgrade Coke price in Tangshan already stood at RMB1980/MT
Second market factor is that China main steel mills further increased their EXW prices. Under the pressure of the increasing costs of raw materials, China steel mills has to further increase their EXW prices in order to make a profit. According to our calculation, steel mills will make loss if not increase EXW prices according to the spot prices of Iron ore and Coke.
Details of EXW prices as following:
Shagang – prices for the 2nd ten-days of Nov, 2016
WR HPB300 Ф6.5mm @RMB3180/MT, up RMB400/MT
Debar in coil HRB400 Ф8-10mm @RMB3220/MT, up RMB400/MT
Debar in bundle HRB400 Ф16-25mm @RMB3200/MT, up RM500/MT
Wisco –
HRC 3.0*1250 SPHC @ RMB3810/MT, up RMB400/MT
CRC 1.0*1250 Q195 @ RMB4720/MT, up RMB350/MT
HDG 1.0*1250 DX51D @ RMB6760/MT, up RMB350/MT
Also Baosteel –
HRC up RMB351/MT
CRC up RMB304/MT
HDG up RMB234/MT
Hebei Goup –
WR up RMB400/MT
Debar up RMB440/MT
Third market factor is that Futures market also increased sharply last week. Futures market prices forced spot prices to keep going up. Government had to increase the trading fees and the rate of deposit to prevent the excessive rise.
Non-market factor is that Tangshan government still released the policy to limit steel production on Nov 11 due to the bad weather, including all the Blast Furnace and coke factories stopped to produce, forbid big truck on the road etc.
Spot price of Billets stood @ RMB2520/MT yesterday.
For export [out of China]:
Billets 150mm*150mm*6m in 3SP grade@ USD370/MT FOB
HRC 5.5mm*1500mm*C in Q235B grade @ USD470/MT FOB
CRC 1.0mm*1250mm*C in SPCC grade @ USD550/MT FOB
Wire Rod 6.5/8/10mm in SAE1008Cr grade@ USD420/MT FOB
Exchange rate is 6.86 RMB to one U.S. dollar.

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in International Steel Mills

CRU: Bids made for Ilva assets
The Italian government has received 10 offers for the former Ilva integrated steel works at Taranto, but only two bidders are interested in purchasing all of the company’s assets.

Global steel production declined through August
August marked the second-lowest monthly production rate this year, down 13% from the two-year high of 166.6 million mt in March.

Algoma Steel assesses viability of US sales in wake of 50% S232 tariffs
Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Algoma Steel is reconsidering its presence in the US market after the doubling of US Section 232 tariffs on imported steel to 50%, a company spokeswoman said.

Nippon plans to double steel output at USS operations: Report
Now that it has acquired U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel is planning a significant expansion of its US operations, including the construction of a new mill and more than doubling its steel output.

Global steel mill output steady through May
Global raw steel production rose 2% from April to May, slightly above average production levels seen in recent months, according to data recently released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel).