{"id":71220,"date":"2026-07-09T16:14:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T10:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=71220"},"modified":"2026-07-09T16:14:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T10:14:45","slug":"chinese-steelmakers-profitability-deteriorates-in-jun26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=71220&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Chinese steelmakers&#8217; profitability deteriorates in Jun&#8217;26"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Sharp $26\/t rise in met coke costs offsets $8\/t drop in iron ore prices<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Rebar losses stand at $11\/t, HRCs at $4\/t; only heavy plates profitable<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>SteelDaily:\u00a0Chinese steelmakers&#8217; profitability deteriorated sharply in June as production costs increased, while steel prices continued to weaken.<\/p>\n<p>By the end of June, the production costs of key steel products at 91 major Chinese steelmakers had risen by RMB 30-39\/t ($5-6\/t) m-o-m. The average production cost of rebar increased by RMB 37\/t ($6\/t) to RMB 3,117\/t ($468\/t), hot-rolled coil (HRC) rose by RMB 39\/t ($6\/t) to RMB 3,291\/t ($494\/t), and heavy plate increased by RMB 30\/t ($5\/t) to RMB 3,295\/t ($494\/t).<\/p>\n<p>The rise in production costs was mainly driven by higher raw material prices. Although the average price of 62% Fe iron ore fell by $8\/t m-o-m to $102\/t in June, the average price of second-grade metallurgical coke in North China increased by RMB 172\/t ($26\/t) to RMB 1,698\/t ($255\/t). Meanwhile, the average selling price of rebar in Tangshan declined by RMB 61\/t ($9\/t) m-o-m to RMB 3,033\/t ($455\/t), further squeezing margins.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, both rebar and HRC slipped into loss-making territory. The average operating margin for rebar fell by RMB 109\/t ($16\/t) m-o-m to a loss of RMB 71\/t ($11\/t), while HRC recorded an average operating loss of RMB 26\/t ($4\/t), down RMB 159\/t ($24\/t) from the previous month. Heavy plate remained profitable at RMB 43\/t ($6\/t), but its profit declined by RMB 175\/t ($26\/t) m-o-m, indicating a significant deterioration in profitability.<\/p>\n<p><em>Note: The article has been published as part of a content exchange agreement between SteelDaily and BigMint.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sharp $26\/t rise in met coke costs offsets $8\/t drop in iron ore prices Rebar&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":71221,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[313],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iron-steel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-09T161421.146.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1?v=1783592073",1280,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-09T161421.146.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1?v=1783592073",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-09T161421.146.jpg?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1?v=1783592073",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-09T161421.146.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1?v=1783592073",640,360,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-09T161421.146.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1?v=1783592073",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-09T161421.146.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1?v=1783592073",1280,720,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-09T161421.146.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1?v=1783592073",1280,720,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-09T161421.146.jpg?resize=1115%2C715&ssl=1?v=1783592073",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-09T161421.146.jpg?resize=800%2C500&ssl=1?v=1783592073",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-09T161421.146.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1?v=1783592073",1024,576,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-09T161421.146.jpg?resize=540%2C340&ssl=1?v=1783592073",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-09T161421.146.jpg?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1?v=1783592073",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"Biz Trend 24","author_link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/author\/online24"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?cat=313&#038;lang=en\" rel=\"category\">Iron &amp; Steel<\/a>","tag_info":"Iron &amp; Steel","comment_count":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-09T161421.146.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1?v=1783592073","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":70598,"url":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=70598&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":71220,"position":0},"title":"China weekly: Steel prices extend decline amid seasonal demand slowdown","author":"Biz Trend 24","date":"July 5, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Australian PHCC holds firm despite subdued spot buying. 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