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The country produced 2.1271 million tpd of crude steel in the first ten days of the month, down 1.1% from the last ten days of September, according to estimates released by China Iron & Steel Assn (Cisa) on Thursday October 17.
Output of Cisa member mills, which are mainly medium-to large-sized steelmakers, averaged 1.7641 million tpd in early October, down 1.3% from late September.
Prior to that, China’s daily crude steel output had continued to climb since late August, adding pressure to the country’s steel market.
While the majority of Chinese steelmakers were open for business during the national day holiday period (October 1-7), falling domestic steel prices provided little incentive for mills to maintain high output levels, market sources said.
Rebar prices in Beijing were in the range of 3,400-3,450 yuan ($555-563) per tonne on September 27, down 170-210 yuan ($28-34) per tonne compared with prices on August 30.
Hot rolled coil prices in Shanghai fell 120-130 yuan ($20-21) per tonne over the same period to 3,480-3,510 yuan ($568-573) per tonne, according to Steel First price archive.
As of October 10, steel inventory at Cisa member mills totalled 13.5 million tonnes, up 889,100 tonnes or 7% from levels on September 30.