Steel Prices Fall, Coking Coal and Coke Surge, Inventory Pressure Mounts: CISA Stresses That Only “Regular Production Controls” Can Break the Industry’s Cyclical Curse
On the first day of June, the fifth round of coke price increases officially took effect, driving continued sharp gains in both coking coal and coke prices. However, the steel market has moved in the opposite direction, with both prices and trading volumes declining. Meanwhile, inventories held by key steel enterprises have climbed to their highest level for the same period in nearly four years.
Caught between soaring raw material costs and weak downstream demand, the hard-won profitability achieved by the industry since April is at risk of disappearing quickly. The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) and industry experts have once again issued a warning: some steelmakers have relaxed production controls following an improvement in profits, raising concerns that the industry's long-standing “prisoner’s dilemma” may be re-emerging.
The entire industry, they argue, must adhere to the principle of “Three Determinations and Three Avoidances” and transform production discipline and inventory reduction from frequently discussed objectives into routine operational practices. Otherwise, the brief recovery seen in recent months could be followed by an even more challenging test of survival for steel producers.
Read More
