About Steel: Prices of steel products mostly headed down. For
instance, construction steel price fell by 10-140 yuan per ton; HRC price
decreased by 40-140 yuan per ton; CRC prices decreased by 10-20 yuan per
ton; medium plate price fell by 10-40 yuan per ton; sections prices fell
by 20-50 yuan per ton. 304 stainless steel prices dived by 100-700 yuan
per ton; 430 stainless steel price slid by 50-100 yuan per ton. The price
drop was ascribed to sharp reduction in crude steel production, announced
by CISA on Tuesday. The news reflected sluggish steel demand, and dampened
marketers’ confidence.
About Fuels and Raw Materials: Coke and coking coal price kept stable, while PCI
and thermal coal markets soared. The accident happening in one coalmine
located in Shaanxi province added the expectation on coal supply.
SteelHome predicts that metallurgical coke market will be weak; coking
coal market will keep stable; PCI and thermal coal will continue to rise
in the remaining of the week.
Iron ore demand increased as mills in Jiangsu
province ramped up. Independent mills in Tangshan have been stopping
production from October 12; the move reduced billet/slab demand. With
lower billet price and higher steel one, rolling mills enjoy widening
profit margin. Scrap market went up, as some EAF-based mills resumed
production.
About Industry: According to CISA, the daily output of crude
steel, pig iron and steel products in the last ten days of September was
1.7688 million tons, 1.6812 million tons and 1.8641 million tons, a drop
of 11.18 percent, 5.81 percent and 3.37 percent from the daily one in the
same time of August.
The estimated monthly production of crude steel in
September is 2.5148 million tons, a drop of 6.34 percent from that in
August or a reduction of 18.49 percent on year.
About Macro: NDRC issued the announcement on deepening thermal
coal price reform. According to the announcement, thermal coal pricing
will be listed on electricity market, with the price settling on the basis
of benchmark price and price change. The current pricing price of thermal
coal can work as related benchmark one for new energy power generation. As
requested, the price uptick will be no more than 10 percent, the decline
will not be bigger than 15 percent, and the price change range will be
within 20 percent. Meanwhile, the energy-intensive companies’
electricity trading price will not be included in the 20 percent change
limitation.
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