In the week of August 26-30, HRC production by 37 Chinese flat steel mills decreased by 1.68% compared to the previous week, falling to 3.05 million tons.
The decline in HRC production can be attributed to the weak profitability of the HRC market compared to rebar and the diversion of hot metals by many steel mills to structural steel production. In addition, several steel mills in eastern China stopped operations at their maintenance plants last week, which led to reduced production.
The continuous decline in HRC prices encouraged some speculative buying, which provided support for prices in the week of August 26-30. As of August 29, HRC warehouse stocks in 33 cities in China decreased by 1.13% to 3.46 million tons. However, HRC stocks in the 37 mills under review increased by 3.87% on the week, reaching 957,500 tons.
As of August 30, the spot price of Q235 4.75mm HRC in China increased by 60 yuan (8.45 USD) to 3,247 yuan (456 USD) per ton including VAT.
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