World crude steel production saw an increase of 6.6% in May

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World crude steel production saw an increase of 6.6% in May

10th july 2018

World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 154.9 million tonnes (Mt) in May 2018, a 6.6% increase compared to May 2017.
China’s crude steel production for May 2018 was 81.1 Mt, an increase of 8.9% compared to May 2017. Japan produced 9.1 Mt of crude steel in May 2018, up 1.8% on May 2017. India produced 8.8 Mt of crude steel in May 2018, an increase of 7.6% compared to May 2017. South Korea’s crude steel production was 6.2 Mt in May 2018, an increase of 3.0% on May 2017.
In the EU, Italy produced 2.2 Mt of crude steel, up by 3.7% on May 2017. Spain produced 1.3 Mt of crude steel, up by 7.0% on May 2017. France produced 1.3 Mt of crude steel, a decrease of 6.5% compared to May 2017.
Turkey’s crude steel production for May 2018 was 3.3 Mt, up by 0.5% on May 2017.
Crude steel production in Ukraine was 1.7 Mt this month, up 2.9% on May 2017.
The US produced 7.1 Mt of crude steel in May 2018, an increase of 3.0% compared to May 2017.
Brazil’s crude steel production for May 2018 was 2.7 Mt, down by 8.6% on May 2017.
The crude steel capacity utilisation ratio of the 64 countries in May 2018 was 77.7%. This is 4.2 percentage points higher than May 2017. Compared to April 2018, it is 1.0 percentage point higher.
Source: WORLDSTEEL

China’s steel sector PMI strengthens in June

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China’s steel sector PMI strengthens in June

10th july 2018

China’s steel sector purchasing managers’ index (PMI) increased by 1 percentage point from a month earlier to 51.6 in June on the back of a rise in domestic and export orders.
But the key steel production sub-index fell by 0.4 points to 52.5, indicating output growth slowed in June compared with May, said the China Steel Logistics Professionals Committee (CSLPC), which produces the index. China’s crude steel output hit an all-time high at 81.3mn t in May, crossing 80mn t/month for the first time, so any gain from June would still take production to a new high. Steel mills increased imports and stocks of raw materials, mainly iron ore and coking coal, in June.
The official PMI for China’s manufacturing sector dipped to 51.4 in June from 51.9 in May, as both the new orders and production sub-indexes slipped.
Steel production growth is likely to slow in July and August because of hot and wet weather in south China and central government environmental inspections in some steelmaking areas, including checks on any resurgence of scrap-fed induction furnaces.
The new domestic orders sub-index grew by 1.1 points from a month earlier to 52.7 in June. New orders increased quickly in the first half of June but growth slowed in the second half of the month as rainy weather in south China hindered construction work. Credit availability to industries has tightened, curbing downstream steel demand, said the CSLPC. The steel market continued to get support from a buoyant real estate market in June.
Steel exports are likely to rise month-on-month in June, as in May, after mills possibly booked more orders in April. Domestic demand for construction steel increased around late April after remaining slow in March and in the first few weeks of April. China’s steel exports are unlikely to drop sharply in the second half of 2018, despite a 25pc duty being imposed on Chinese steel sales to the US, as Chinese exporters expand sales to regions such as Africa and South America.
Source: ARGUS

Shanghai steel prices sag as U.S. tariffs loom

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Shanghai steel prices sag as U.S. tariffs loom

10th july 2018

Chinese steel prices dropped on Friday ahead of the United States imposing tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese goods in a few hours, with further losses likely as the trade row between the world’s two largest economies threatens market stability.
President Donald Trump confirmed that the United States would begin collecting the tariffs at 12:01 a.m. Washington D.C. time (0401 GMT) on Friday and warned that subsequent rounds could see tariffs on more than $500 billion of goods, or roughly the total amount that the United States imported from China last year.
“The Trump administration’s trade war is finally upon us, and by all accounts, we’re headed for an unparalleled trade conflict between the world’s largest economies,” Stephen Innes, head of Asia Pacific trading at OANDA brokerage, said in a note. “If this moves off the tit for tat battleground into a full out trade war, it will not only threaten market stability but could compromise relations between Washington and Beijing.”
The price of construction steel product rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was down 0.7 percent at 3,748 yuan ($563) a tonne by 0205 GMT.
Hot rolled coil, used in manufacturing, fell 1 percent to 3,819 yuan.
Other risky assets from commodities including oil and copper were also weaker and Asian stocks were subdued with investors on edge ahead of the U.S. tariffs taking effect.
A drop in weekly steel inventory in China suggested demand remained firm in the world’s largest consumer and producer. Total steel stocks dropped 154,600 tonnes to 10.098 million tonnes this week, data compiled by Mysteel consultancy showed.
That followed a two-week increase which came after a 14-week decline.
Prices of steelmaking ingredients were steady to weaker, with iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange up 0.1 percent at 456 yuan a tonne and coking coal flat at 1,143 yuan. Coke fell 1.3 percent to 1,984.50 yuan.
Source: REUTERS

JSPL Q1 India steel sales up 46% YoY, flat QoQ

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JSPL Q1 India steel sales up 46% YoY, flat QoQ

10th july 2018

Jindal Steel and Power Limited said steel sales volumes in India rose 46% in Apr-Jun quarter to 1.18 mln tons compared to the year ago.
The sales number is at a similar level to the preceding Jan-Mar quarter, when the company had sold 1.18 million tons.
In terms of production, there was an increase of 36% on year at its two India locations, at 1.23 mln tons. This was slightly lower than the 1.26 mln tons reported for Jan-Mar.
On the global front, Jindal Shadeed – JSPL’s subsidiary in Oman, had its highest ever crude and finished steel production and sales during April–June 2018.
The company also has a 9 MTPA pellet production plant, billed as India’s largest single-location pelletization complex. The quarterly output of the plant was not disclosed.
“JSPL is on course to translate its blueprint for enhancing capacity utilizations and efficiencies across all its steel plants,” sadi NA Ansari, CEO of Steel Business for JSPL.
“While the ramp up at our 6 MTPA steel plant at Angul is on desired trajectory, the steel plant at Raigarh has set new benchmarks of exceeding excellence,” he added.
“We are confident of further accelerating the growth momentum, both in production as well as sales, in the forthcoming quarters to record FY 2018-19 as the best ever year in JSPL’s history.”
The company has a 6 million ton per year plant at Angul in Odisha, which it said achieved the highest ever billet and TMT rebar production in its history in the month of June 2018.
Its second plant, at Raigarh in Chhattisgarh, had the best ever monthly production at two units — Blast Furnace 1 and Medium & Light Structural Mill (MLSM). Moreover, the quarter also saw record sales by the Rail Mill and MLSM units during June.
Jindal Shadeed’s 1.5 MTPA Bar Mill – the largest in the world, set a new world record of highest single day production of over 5000 tons in June, it said.
Source: ULTRA NEWS

Indian steel demand may double to 170 mt by 2025: BHP Billiton

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Indian steel demand may double to 170 mt by 2025: BHP Billiton

10th july 2018

Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton has forecast Indian steel demand will double by 2025, even as it termed the government’s steel production target of 300 million tonnes by 2030 as “aspirational”.
“Steel is going to be a great enabler for the Indian growth story, particularly for the downstream sector,” Huw McKay, vice-president, analysis and economics, at BHP Billiton, said on phone. “Using 2016 as the base, we expect the demand to double to roughly around 170 MT by 2025,” McKay told ET.
India produced 97 million tonnes of crude steel in 2016-17.
McKay said construction and infrastructure would occupy the “lion’s share” of this growth in demand, with steel consumption growing almost at the same clip as the sector—at 8% till 2025.
But the economist maintained that the government’s steel output target of 300 million tonnes by 2030 is “aspirational”. He, however, conceded that the acceleration of insolvency proceedings should assist the sector and will also give it an upside.
The company, which also exports copper concentrates to India, said the shutting down of Vedanta’s 400,000-tonne plant at Tuticorin amid bloody protests in May has impacted its shipments to India, but the international price of copper has stayed strong. “This speaks of the resilience of the copper market,” said McKay.
An international trade war sparked by the US imposing import tariffs of 25% and 10% on steel and aluminium, respectively, has countries guessing its effects and coming up with their own strategies to counter a likely dumping in their respective countries. McKay, however, said there is enough demand in the world to absorb the steel.
“There is a very broad-based growth of demand in the global economy,” he said, adding that with India exporting to neighbouring economies rather than “far flung markets”, there is not much cause of worry. McKay said BHP is not in favour of any kind of protectionism.
Source: THE ECONOMIC TIMES

India’s crude steel output up 6 per cent at 26 million tonne

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India’s crude steel output up 6 per cent at 26 million tonne

10th july 2018

India’s crude steel output grew six per cent to 26 million tonne (MT) in the first quarter of the ongoing financial year, according to official data. The country had produced 24.5 MT of crude steel during April-June, 2017-18, the Joint Plant Committee (JPC) said in its latest report. The JPC, under Ministry of Steel, collects and maintains data on the domestic iron and steel sector.
“During April-June, crude steel production was 26.08 MT (provisional), a growth of 6.2 per cent over the same period of last year,” the report said. State-run SAIL, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), Tata Steel, Essar Steel, JSW Steel and Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) together produced 15.6 MT during the three-month period, registering a growth of 12 per cent over the year-ago period.
During the reported quarter, the output of hot metal was at 17.88 MT as compared to 16.10 MT during the year-ago period, an increase of 11 per cent. The output of pig iron rose 5 per cent to 2.58 MT from 2.45 MT in April-June of 2017-18.
According to World Steel Organisation (worldsteel), India outstripped Japan to become the second largest steel producer as its steel output grew 3.43 per cent to 8.43 MT in February against 8.29 MT of the latter. India has set a target of producing 300 MT crude steel by 2030 with an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore.
Source: PTI