According to a new report issued by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), in March this year, China’s crude steel output amounted to 72 million mt, up 1.8 percent year on year, while the average aggregate daily crude steel output during the month totaled 2.3226 million mt, up 6.42 percent compared to the January-February period this year, constituting a new historic record.
According to the CISA’s report, as of the end of the second week of April overall domestic inventories of the main finished steel products in China totaled 13.63 million mt, down 17.64 percent as compared to the third week of February this year.
In the January-March period this year, China’s finished steel exports totaled 20.73 million mt, down 25 percent year on year. In the given period, China’s finished steel imports totaled 3.481 million mt, up 11.3 percent year on year.
As also indicated by the CISA, as of the end of March this year domestic iron ore prices rose by 1.53 percent month on month and increased by 58.01 percent year on year, while import iron ore prices fell by 11.65 percent month on month and moved up by 48.84 percent year on year, while the composite steel price index (CSPI) for the Chinese domestic market decreased by 4.15 percent month on month. Declines in inventory levels of finished steel in the past two months are expected to exert a positive impact on finished steel prices in the Chinese domestic market. It is thought that finished steel prices in China will likely move on a fluctuating in the coming period.