Iron ore futures continued to climb, despite logistical disruption in China from worsening Covid spread with travel restrictions implemented over 20 Chinese provinces.
The futures of Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) for May delivery rose by 1.30% day-on-day or up RMB 10.50 to RMB 818/mt, during the day trading session on Thursday.
The rebar futures also inched up by 0.39% or up RMB 19 day-on-day to RMB 4,945/mt, during the day trading session.
Lower daily usage of sintering fines among Chinese mills
Chinese mills had reduced their daily usage of imported sintering fines, amid stringent lockdowns measures that slowed down deliveries from ports-to-mills routes.
According to Mysteel, the daily use of imported iron ore sintering fines dropped by 17,400 mt per day or down 3.3% to 507,000 mt per day after the survey of 64 Chinese mills over the Mar 17-23 period.
This resulted in low raw material inventory among steel-producing hubs like Tangshan and Shandong, as well as affected steel production as some workers had been quarantined along the supply chain.
Chinese steel semi imports drop by 25% in 2021
China imported lesser steel semis for 2021, dropping 25% year-on-year to 13.7 million mt, based on the data from the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC).
Despite the drop, the import volume of 2021 was still recorded at the second highest import figure after the peak import volume recorded in 2020 at 18.3 million mt of steel semis.
The recent high import volumes were part of the Beijing policymakers in encouraging import of steel semis, so that Chinese mills will produce more higher value-added items with greener initiatives in reducing emissions.