Independent rolling mills in Tangshan, the key steelmaking hub in northern China, in Fengrun district in particular, started to implement production control requirements as of 12:00 o’clock on October 22, according to market sources. Though there has been no official announcement of production losses as the lifting of this measure will be announced later, market sources expect a temporary suspension of production, which will also be supported by a reduction in pig iron and crude steel supplies after the maintenance works at some mills announced earlier.
Nevertheless, the fresh news about production curbs has failed to support steel prices in China, due to insufficient demand. Even though rebar inventories have indicated some decreases, this cannot support the market where the mood is still not good.
Though China’s outputs of pig iron and crude steel declined by 3.3 percent and 5.6 percent year on year in September, its finished steel production amounted to 117.82 million mt, increasing by 5.5 percent year on year, while up 1.12 percent month on month.
On October 23, rebar and HRC futures at Shangahi Futures Exchange have declined 1.12 percent and 1.57 percent, respectively, from last Friday.