Amid price hikes, nation's stabilizing moves to keep production on track

 

Adding more strain to global steel supplies and price inflation of raw materials, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has increased China's steel production costs, yet experts said as domestic steel market expectations level off amid Chinese authorities' efforts to ensure stable economic growth, the domestic steel industry is well-poised for healthy development despite such external factors.

 

Russia and Ukraine together account for 8.1 percent of global iron ore production, while their overall output contribution of pig iron and crude steel was 5.4 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively, according to a recent report by Huatai Futures.

 

In 2021, pig iron output of Russia and Ukraine totaled 51.91 million metric tons and 20.42 million tons, respectively, and for crude steel production 71.62 million tons and 20.85 million tons, respectively, the report said.

 

As of last week, steel plate, rebar and hot-rolled coil prices had soared by 69.6 percent, 52.7 percent, and 43.3 percent, respectively, in the European Union since the outbreak of the conflict. Steel prices in the United States, Turkey and India have also risen by more than 10 percent. Spot prices of hot-rolled coil and rebar increased relatively marginally in Shanghai－5.9 percent and 5 percent, respectively, the Huatai report said.

 

In China, however, with authorities' stabilizing efforts taking effect, the domestic steel market will get back on track, analysts said.

 

Due to higher steel prices in global markets compared with the domestic market, China's steel export volume may go up in the short term, easing the pressure of excessive domestic supplies, she said, predicting that the increase will be limited－around 5 million tons on average per month.