Japan's earthquake heightens domestic high-end steel prices

The sudden quake brought different degrees of influence to Nippon Steel and JFE, the major silicon steel makers in Japan, and provided an opportunity for China’s high-end steel products to replace imports.

The earthquake in Japan has pushed up the price of high-end steel products in China. On the 14th, Wuhan Iron and Steel was the first to increase the price of oriented silicon steel by more than 1,000 yuan per ton. The next day, Baosteel, the leader of the steel industry, also raised the price of silicon steel by 1,000 yuan per ton.

“The sudden earthquake has brought different degrees of influence to Nippon Steel and JFE, which are the major silicon steel makers in Japan, and has provided opportunities for China’s high-end steel products to replace imported materials. Baosteel and Wuhan Iron and Steel Group are among them. However, the Shandong Province’s internal steel mills are not yet available. Price increase." On the 16th, Zhuo Chuang, editor-in-chief of the information steel section, said in an interview with the Economic Herald.

High-end steel "good"

"Japan's crude steel production is second only to China, but Japanese products are mostly high-end products, mainly used in home appliances, shipbuilding, automobiles and other industries." Li Zhi said. Last year, Japan exported 60.87% of its total hot-rolled products to China.

Previously, China's oriented silicon steel mainly came from Japan, South Korea, Russia, and the United States. The Japanese earthquake caused some steel mills to stop production, which is “good” for major domestic steel mills. Therefore, Baosteel and Wuhan Iron & Steel will take advantage of the price increase.

It is understood that this orientation of silicon steel prices is an indispensable soft magnetic material for the power industry, mainly used in various types of transformers, rectifiers, reactors and large motors and other industries, used to manufacture various types of transformer core . The domestic production of silicon steel mainly includes several large iron and steel enterprises such as Wuhan Iron & Steel, Baosteel and Anshan Iron and Steel. The equipment for producing silicon steel is mainly imported from Japan.

“This price increase has a major impact on the domestic market and has little impact on the international market. Due to the dislocation of products, the impact on major steel mills in Shandong Province is not significant,” said Li Zhi.

The price of iron ore further falls. “The Japanese earthquake has a more significant impact on international iron ore prices. The price of iron ore and other metal ore continues to fall.” On the 16th, Zhuo Chuang Information Iron Ore Industry analyst Liu Hui interviewed the reporters Said. At present, the price of 63.5 external disks for printing ink has fallen from the maximum of 200 US dollars/ton after the year to 170-172 US dollars/ton.

“In the warming environment of construction steel prices, the price of iron ore fell against the market. On the one hand, it was affected by the earthquake in Japan. On the other hand, it also reflected that the overall market demand for iron ore was not strong,” said Liu Hui.

In fact, since February of this year, global iron ore demand has shown a downward trend, and international ore prices have begun to decline. Li Zhi said that this decline was mainly due to the continuous decline in trading volume in the early stage steel market, coupled with the high inventory of iron ore ports, importers significantly reduced the purchase of iron ore and adopted a wait-and-see attitude. It is reported that as of March 11, China's iron ore port inventory has reached 80.4 million tons, an increase of 6.48 million tons from the beginning of this year.

Global Steel News TSI said recently that Nippon Steel and other three steel makers have suffered structural damage at five steelmaking plants in Tokyo Bay, and that they cannot be resumed in the short term. Discontinued production may take as long as six months, and it is expected to affect 2200. Ten thousand tons of iron ore demand.

Japanese steel mills are the major customers of the three major mines in Asia except China. Last year, Japan’s total iron ore imports reached 134 million tons.

"If the TSI news is accurate, then it will have a great impact on the international iron ore supply. It is estimated that the spot price of iron ore will fall to about 140-150 US dollars / ton to stop. If the stop production is only short-term, the price fell The amplitude will decrease." Liu Hui said.