In March this year, finished steel prices in China indicated an overall uptrend, though steel prices started to shift to a soft trend, as announced by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).
In the current year up to March 31, the China Steel Prices index (CSPI) stood at 118.54 points, increasing by 0.26 percent month on month, down 14.63 percent year on year.
In the given month, steel demand in the infrastructure and manufacturing industries was basically stable, while demand in the real estate industry continued to fall.
In March, China’s output of crude steel totaled 95.73 million mt, up 6.9 percent year on year, while the rapid increase in steel capacity utilization was not conductive to the equilibrium of supply and demand in the domestic market. CISA called on Chinese steelmakers to maintain a balanced situation between supply and demand.
Moreover, the sharp rises in import iron ore prices exerted a negative impact on steelmakers’ profitability. In March, average import iron ore prices rose to $117.7/mt, up by $25.63/mt or 27.84 percent compared to the beginning of the year, while steel prices only increased by 4.67 percent in the given period, far slower than the increase seen in iron ore prices.