Market Segment
May 21, 2020
CRU: Chinese Steel Destocking Continues
Written by CRU Americas
By CRU Analyst Nikki Ni, from CRU’s Steel Monitor
Over the past month, Chinese steel demand has accelerated, resulting in lower inventories while output remained at a high level. The ongoing demand recovery has improved the Steel PMI to 45.9 in April, up by 3.7pp m/m. Despite being below the 50-mark, the consecutive m/m improvement means that industrial activities have continued to operate at stronger rates. This improvement has been underpinned by underlying demand recovery. For instance, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturing (CAAM), auto sales went up by 43.5 percent m/m, and 4.4 percent y/y in April. Similarly, the contraction of fixed asset investment in the real estate sector also decelerated in April at -3.3 percent y/y, according to China NBS.
