Looking more positive.


Mysteel's monitoring of the 247 Chinese steelmakers regularly sampled showed that their average hot metal output climbed to 2.29 million tonnes/day over April 19-25, higher by another 1.1% on week and making for the fourth weekly rise.

WEEKLY: Fundamentals of China's iron ore market brighten

Source: MysteelApr 29, 2024 19:30

Imported Iron OreDemandInventoryPrice

The fundamentals of China's imported ore market are set to see further improvement soon, market sources suggest, primarily because of a modest uptick in demand for iron ore as steel mills continue lifting their output. Also, iron ore port stocks seem finally on the brink of declining.

Recently, domestic steelmakers have boosted their hot metal output, after more mills found they could earn positive returns when selling their steel, Mysteel Global noted.

Mysteel's monitoring of the 247 Chinese steelmakers regularly sampled showed that their average hot metal output climbed to 2.29 million tonnes/day over April 19-25, higher by another 1.1% on week and making for the fourth weekly rise.

Better profitability among steelmakers was largely attributed to the mild revival in end-user consumption of steel this month and a steady destocking of steel inventories at mills in turn.

On the other hand, port stocks of iron ore are expected to eventually start decreasing this week after their steady accumulation since last December, the source added.

As of April 25, the volume of iron ore piled at the 45 major Chinese ports under Mysteel's regular survey rose for the 18th consecutive week to top 147.6 million tonnes, up by another 1.4% on week and being 13% higher than a year earlier.

Despite the iron ore market's better fundamentals, rather than presenting a firm uptrend imported iron ore prices have fluctuated of late.

Mysteel SEADEX 62% Australian Fines settled at $118.1/dmt CFR Qingdao on April 28 (a substitute working day in China before the Labour Day holiday), up by $1.2/dmt from April 19. However, Mysteel PORTDEX 62% Australian Fines in Qingdao had dipped Yuan 10/wmt ($1.4/wmt) to Yuan 882/wmt FOT and including the 13% VAT over the same period.

In fact, market pundits were also concerned that the gradual uptick in steel production may slow the pace of steel destocking at some point, thereby souring market sentiment.

Written by Lea Li, [email protected]

Edited by Russ McCulloch, [email protected]