According to a new report issued by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), in the January-February period this year, China’s crude steel output amounted to 128.77 million mt, up 5.8 percent year on year, while the average aggregate daily crude steel output totaled 2.1825 million mt, up 0.65 percent compared to December last year.
According to the CISA’s report, as of the end of the second week of March overall domestic inventories of the main finished steel products in China totaled 15.41 million mt, down 6.89 percent month on month.
In the January-February period this year, China’s finished steel exports totaled 13.17 million mt, down 25.7 percent year on year. In the given period, China’s finished steel imports totaled 2.18 million mt, up 17.6 percent year on year.
As also indicated by the CISA, as of the end of February this year domestic iron ore prices and import iron ore prices increased by 8.77 percent and 3.6 percent month on month and were up 72.42 percent and 83.27 percent year on year, respectively, while the composite steel price index (CSPI) for the Chinese domestic market increased by 6.36 percent month on month. Decreases in inventory levels of finished steel in the past three weeks 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 sideways in the coming period.