Reasons for the continuous increase in steel prices

At the first quarter information conference held by the China Iron and Steel Association on the 27th, Qu Xiuli, vice president and secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Association, said that since this year, my country’s iron and steel industry has worked hard to overcome difficulties such as the sharp rise in iron ore prices and adapt to domestic and foreign With changes in the steel market, the industry has shown a relatively good trend.
In the first quarter of this year, my country's steel production was generally stable, and output maintained growth. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, my country’s pig iron output in the first quarter was 221 million tons, an increase of 8% year-on-year, and an increase of 13.38% compared to the first quarter of 2019; crude steel production was 271 million tons, an increase of 15.60% year-on-year, and an increase of 17.3 compared to the first quarter of 2019. %; steel production is 329 million tons, an increase of 22.50% year-on-year and an increase of 22.42% over the first quarter of 2019.

Economic benefits have maintained growth, and loss-making enterprises have decreased significantly. According to the statistics of the Iron and Steel Association, in the first quarter, the operating income of member steel enterprises was 1541.7 billion yuan, an increase of 52.28% year-on-year; profits and taxes reached 100.4 billion yuan, an increase of 159.94% year-on-year; total profits were 73.4 billion yuan, an increase of 247.44% year-on-year.
Since the beginning of this year, my country's main steel industry has continued to recover, driving a significant increase in steel demand. According to the calculations of the Steel Association, the actual steel consumption in the main steel industry increased by 47% in the first quarter; the apparent consumption of crude steel in my country was 258.96 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 15.3%.

According to the monitoring of the Steel Association, steel prices in the domestic market maintained an upward trend in the first quarter. By the end of March, China's steel price index rose to 136.28 points, a year-on-year increase of 37.37%. Qu Xiuli analyzed that the reasons for the continuous increase in domestic steel prices this year are extremely complex. On the one hand, it was driven by demand; on the other hand, it was driven by the sharp increase in the price of imported iron ore. It was also affected by the recovery of the international market and the general rise in commodity prices. The next step is to increase the development and mining of iron ore at home and abroad, and improve the resource guarantee capacity of the iron and steel industry.