Chinese steel mills moved to cut production in May 2023 as falling steel prices pushed many into losses and iron ore slid to a five-month low. Rebar output fell rapidly as mills in the north, south-west and north-west extended maintenance shutdowns, and electric arc furnace mills cut back sharply because finished steel prices had fallen far more than scrap. Iron ore for delivery to Qingdao dropped to about $102.7 a tonne, down 23 percent from its March peak, before recovering slightly. The China Iron and Steel Association reported that crude steel output at major mills had already fallen 3.6 percent in late April to 2.21 million tonnes a day, and local authorities in Tangshan's Fengnan district ordered mills to curb output. By the end of May, the national rebar price had fallen to 3,680 yuan a tonne, its lowest since May 2020.
Source: MetalMiner — https://agmetalminer.com/2023/05/22/sliding-iron-ore-prices-show-chinas-recovery-is-still-dragging/
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (freely licensed).