Photo: China Iron and Steel Association holds a seminar to study and analyze the performance of domestic steel market in Beijing, March 17, 2021.
BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Steel demand from the downstream sectors is expected to remain high in the second quarter in China, benefiting the domestic steel mills, according to China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) on Thursday.
The CISA has recently held a seminar to study and analyze the performance of domestic steel market.
Many attendees at the seminar believed that the domestic construction industry is expected to usher in a phased rush period in the second quarter and the manufacturing industry will also enter the cycle of replenishment, meaning that the downstream demand for steel products will remain high in the period.
At present, the steel inventories of the domestic steel mills have been lower than the level of the same period in 2020. It is expected that the steel inventories in the second quarter will enter the channel of de-stocking.
However, it is worth noting that the rising cost of raw materials has severely eroded the steel industry profits. With the improvement of iron ore supply and demand, iron ore prices are expected to fall from a high level, and coke prices will likely return to a reasonable range, said the attendees.
According to the CISA, in the first two months of the year, China produced 174.99 million metric tons (tonnes) of crude steel, up 12.9 percent year on year, and 209.53 million tonnes of steel products, up 23.6 percent year on year. (Edited by Hu Pingchao with Xinhua Silk Road, hupingchao@xinhua.org)
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