Ferrous Market
– China National Bureau of Statistics: China 2020 crude steel production 1.05 billion tonnes, up 5.2% y-o-y. Pig iron production 887.52 million tonnes, up 4.3% y-o-y. Steel production 1.32 billion tonnes, up 7.7% y-o-y.
– A fire that broke out early Thursday at one of Vale’s ship loaders in northern Brazil was contained without victims or environmental damage, the iron-ore producer said by
email. The Ponta da Madeira terminal “continues to operate, with no impact on monthly iron ore shipment schedules”. However some iron ore traders believed the shipments potentially have some delay during current few days.
– Steelbank construction steels inventory 3.32 million tonnes, up 6.47% w-o-w. HRC inventories 1.86 million tonnes, up 5.32% w-o-w.
– China Hebei pelletising ores price increased 40-50 yuan/ton, due to cold winter, pandemic and strict environment protection strategy.
– Tangshan traders indicated most of steel rolling mills were suspended concerning high cost and harsh environment protection policy.
Macro
– China Q4 GDP 6.5%, est. 6.1%, last 4.9%. China 2020 GDP 2.3%, year 2019 6%.
– China December above scale industry output 7.3%, est. 6.9%, last 7%.
– China security analysts believed the interest rate would became neutral instead of further decrease in mid-run, considering currently market liquidity is sufficient.
SGX Iron Ore 62% Futures& Options Open Interest(Jan 15th)
– Futures 75,046,300 tonnes(increase 2,271,400 tonnes)
– Options 43,969,200 tonnes(increase 270,000 tonnes)
Verdict
– Short-term neutral