Baotou Steel dismantles the No.2 blast furnace
2016-09-06 08:59:17 [Print]
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 6 Sep16 - Inner-Mongolia based Baotou Iron and Steel Group Co., Ltd. (Baotou Steel) stays among the major seamless pipe producers in China. The mill started to dismantle the No.2 blast furnace, the largest one nationwide on August 31, and 1.33 million tons of iron making capacity will be reduced.
A sales official from the mill confirmed the dismantlement of the blast furnace, and attributed it to the steel capacity production cut policies issued by the central government. However, as most of its raw materials are purchased from other mills, the production for seamless pipe has not been influenced yet. With positive expectations for the market prospect, the mill moved seamless pipe prices up by RMB70/t (USD10.5/t) on September 2. After the adjustment, prices for 20# Φ273mm*8mm GB/T8163 and 20# Φ426mm*11mm GB/T8163 are RMB3,250/t (USD486t) and RMB3,340/t (USD500/t) VAT included respectively.
The source attributed the price increase to rising raw materials’ prices and the mill’s optimistic forecast towards the market outlook. Therein, the price for the tubing blank, the direct raw material of seamless pipe has increased by 13.5% in recent one month in Shandong province, and that for the steel billet in Hebei province has witnessed a total markup of 31% during the same period. “We usually adjust prices once per month in the past, but have increased prices several times in recent two months due to the sharp price increases of raw materials,” explained the source, believing the seamless pipe price is likely to go up further in the near future.
With an annual production capacity of 1.56 million tons, Baotou Steel produced 110,000t of seamless pipe in August since it took facility maintenance every 3-4 days, with the sales ratio of 100%. Holding zero stock at hand, currently all the three production lines (159mm, 180mm, 460mm) of the mill are under normal production.
A sales official from the mill confirmed the dismantlement of the blast furnace, and attributed it to the steel capacity production cut policies issued by the central government. However, as most of its raw materials are purchased from other mills, the production for seamless pipe has not been influenced yet. With positive expectations for the market prospect, the mill moved seamless pipe prices up by RMB70/t (USD10.5/t) on September 2. After the adjustment, prices for 20# Φ273mm*8mm GB/T8163 and 20# Φ426mm*11mm GB/T8163 are RMB3,250/t (USD486t) and RMB3,340/t (USD500/t) VAT included respectively.
The source attributed the price increase to rising raw materials’ prices and the mill’s optimistic forecast towards the market outlook. Therein, the price for the tubing blank, the direct raw material of seamless pipe has increased by 13.5% in recent one month in Shandong province, and that for the steel billet in Hebei province has witnessed a total markup of 31% during the same period. “We usually adjust prices once per month in the past, but have increased prices several times in recent two months due to the sharp price increases of raw materials,” explained the source, believing the seamless pipe price is likely to go up further in the near future.
With an annual production capacity of 1.56 million tons, Baotou Steel produced 110,000t of seamless pipe in August since it took facility maintenance every 3-4 days, with the sales ratio of 100%. Holding zero stock at hand, currently all the three production lines (159mm, 180mm, 460mm) of the mill are under normal production.
