China's crude steel production sees Nov. acceleration

SteelOrbis Shanghai China's crude steel production rose 24.1 percent year on year in November - the fastest monthly growth figure recorded this year. However, supported by the sharp jump in exports, domestic market prices are still circling at a high level. In November, China produced 37.96 million mt in crude steel, up 7.37 million mt or 24.1 percent year on year and up 280,000 mt or 0.7 percent month on month. The daily production in November reached 1.2653 million mt, up 49,800 mt compared with the previous month – an all-time historical high. The cumulative Jan-Nov production of crude steel totaled 381.54 million mt, up 59.29 million mt or 18.4 percent year on year. Crude steel production for the whole year is expected to break 420 million mt. China's pig iron production totaled 35.54 million mt, up 5.5 million or 18.3 percent year on year and down 610,000 mt or 1.69 percent month on month. Daily production was registered at 1.1847 million mt, up 18,600 mt over the previous month. The cumulative Jan-Nov production totaled 367.44 million mt, up 60.73 million mt or 19.8 percent compared with the same period last year. The country's production of finished steel totaled 41.75 million mt, up 8.05 million mt or 23.9 percent year on year and up 160,000 mt or 0.38 percent month on month. Daily finished steel production for November was 1.3917 million mt, up 50,100 mt from October. Meanwhile, cumulative production from January to November totaled 424.93 million mt, up 84.44 million mt or 24.8 percent year on year. Breaking China's steel production for November down into the various product categories, the production of rebar reached 7.28 million mt, up 14.2 percent year on year; that of wire rod amounted to 6.12 million mt, up 14.5 percent; that of medium and heavy plate reached 3.63 million mt, up 29.2 percent; hot rolled sheet production stood at 6.28 million mt, up 42.1 percent; cold rolled sheet production for November added up to 2.38 million mt, up 60.8 percent; production of hot rolled narrow strip reached 3.02 million mt, up 24.2 percent; that of galvanized sheet (coil) amounted to 1.3 million mt, up 7.2 percent; that of seamless steel pipe reached 1.37 million mt, up 22.7 percent; and, finally, production of welded steel pipe totaled 1.97 million mt, up 11 percent. China's iron ore output for November reached 59.27 million mt, up 18.08 million mt or 43.9 percent year on year. Cumulative iron ore output from January to November totaled 521.5 million mt, up 144.15 million mt or 38.2 percent over the previous year. Coke production for November totaled 25.54 million mt, up 4.17 million mt or 19.5 percent year on year. Meanwhile, output for the Jan-Nov period amounted to 252.99 million mt, up 37.68 million mt or 17.5 percent compared to last year. Ferroalloy production for November totaled 1.44 million mt, up 265,000 mt or 22.5 percent. Cumulative Jan-Nov production of ferroalloys reached 12.77 million mt, up 3.07 million mt or 31.7 percent year on year. China's crude steel domestic supply totaled 33.15 million mt for November, down 580,000 mt or 1.7 percent compared with October. Thus, we can draw the conclusion that due to the dramatic increase in exports, the market supply did not jump sharply in China in spite of the rapid production growth. Thus, the market moved on a stable trend overall.