Ferrous Market
– Arcelor Mittal planned to build a 1.5 mtpa EAF furnace in AM/NS Calvert, a U.S. steel mill.
– China eastern cement price up 30 yuan to 370 yuan, reached the high before rainy season in July. Cement in eastern areas up 50 yuan in total in August.
– Mysteel 45 major ports iron ores inventory 113.23 million tonnes, down 227,100 tonnes w-o-w. Daily evacuation 3.29 million tonnes, up 127,500 tonnes w-o-w. Austrilian iron ores inventory 58.82 million tonnes, down 2.41 million tonnes w-o-w. Brazil iron ores inventory 27.76 million tonnes, up 1.23 million tonnes w-o-w. 177 ships at ports up 9 w-o-w.
– Mysteel researched 247 blast furnace operation rate at 91.93%, up 0.52% w-o-w. Utilisation rate 95.16%, up 12.99% w-o-w. Daily pig iron production 2.53 million tonnes, up 10,900 tonnes w-o-w, up 187,200 tonnes y-o-y.
Downstream
– China Association of Automobile Manufactures: 11 major enterprises august sold 384,000 vehicles, down 17.9% m-o-m. Produced 473,000 vehicles, up 11.2%.
SGX Iron Ore 62% Futures& Options Open Interest(Aug 13th)
– Futures 77,735,900 tonnes(increase 1,209,200 tonnes)
– Options 110,331,900 tonnes(increase 560,000 tonnes)
Verdict
– Short-term neutral.