This is very, very promising. What the fin journo's are missing- five new stimulus policies in 2 weeks. The CCP is on the move.


The BF capacity utilization rate among the 247 steel producers under Mysteel's regular tracking had increased for the fourth consecutive week by another 0.94 percentage point on week to reach 85.53% during April 19-25.

"In just two weeks, five stimulus policies have been introduced (by the Chinese government), involving money, finance, and industry," a market watcher based in Shanghai said. "This had brightened the market mood and buoyed domestic prices of ferrous commodities," she added.

WEEKLY: China's BF capacity use rises 4th week to 85.53%

Source: Mysteel Apr 26, 2024 13:00

Ferrous CapacityProduction

Production activity among Chinese blast furnace (BF) steelmakers continued to grow this week as optimism still dominated the domestic steel market, Mysteel Global learned. The further gains in steel mills' profits also supported their output.

The BF capacity utilization rate among the 247 steel producers under Mysteel's regular tracking had increased for the fourth consecutive week by another 0.94 percentage point on week to reach 85.53% during April 19-25.

Meanwhile, the daily average hot metal output of these sampled steelmakers was 2.29 million tonnes/day during the same period, up by 25,000 t/d or 1.1% on week, and their operational rates also gained 0.87 percentage point from the previous week to average 79.73%.

"In just two weeks, five stimulus policies have been introduced (by the Chinese government), involving money, finance, and industry," a market watcher based in Shanghai said. "This had brightened the market mood and buoyed domestic prices of ferrous commodities," she added.

As of April 25, China's national spot price for HRB400E 20mm dia rebar sat at Yuan 3,815/tonne ($538/t) including the 13% VAT, up by 10/t on week.

By the same day, around 51% of the sampled 247 steelmakers managed to earn profits on steel sales, which was 3 percentage points higher from the previous week, according to Mysteel's survey.

The bullish sentiment and positive margins encouraged BF steelmakers to lift production, and their consumption of iron ore increased in parallel, Mysteel Global noted.

Mysteel's survey showed the daily consumption of imported iron ore among the same 247 steelmakers averaged 2.79 million t/d over April 19-25, up by 28,700 t/d or 1% on week.

By April 25, the total inventories of iron ore in all forms held by these sampled mills stood largely stable on week at 93.8 million tonnes, though it picked up 0.2% on week. The stocks would be sufficient to last them for 33.6 days at their present use rate, shorter by 0.3 day from the previous period, according to Mysteel's assessment.

Written by Anthea Shi, [email protected]

Edited by Alyssa Ren, [email protected]