Hebei Ferrous Metals Market Prepares for New COVID Cases

The rise in confirmed cases of coronavirus in northern China's Hebei province over the past few days has raised concerns among steelmakers, traders and raw material suppliers in the province, especially when local authorities quickly imposed restrictions on freight transport in parts. provinces, disrupting the transportation of steel and raw materials, but the tangible impact on the operation of the mill is still limited, sources in the market confirmed on Thursday.

On January 6, 51 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Hebei, 50 of which were in Shijiazhuang City and others in the neighboring city of Xingtai, and thus Hebei accounted for most of the 63 new infections nationwide on Wednesday. ... ... Hebei is by far the largest steelmaking center among 34 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities and special administrative regions in China, which accounted for 24.3% of the country's total crude steel production in 2019, Mysteel Global notes.

The spike in Hebei virus infections has prompted many regions in other parts of China to ban vehicles with Hebei Provincial license plates from entering, interrupting the flow of raw materials for steel production. For example, in Shanxi in northern China, the country's main base for the production of coke and coking coal, special test stations have been set up at the entrances to the highways connecting the province with Hebei.

According to reports from the Shanxi Ministry of Transport, vehicles from Hebei are prohibited from exiting highways entering Shanxi, although there were no restrictions on leaving Shanxi to Hebei as of late Thursday.

“Vehicles stop at the entrance to the highway connecting Xingtai with Shijiazhuang, and all residents of our city must pass a virus test,” said a source in Xingtai, a large coke base in Hebei.

Some miners in Shanxi have also introduced virus containment measures. Mysteel has learned that a coal mining company has notified truck drivers in some Hebei cities to submit negative COVID-19 test results and have similar documents with them to be allowed to enter the mine.

An iron ore procurement officer at a steel mill in Shijiazhuang said freight transport of iron ore was impacted by strict restrictions on transportation to and from the city, but train traffic is not currently disrupted. “At the moment, our production as a whole has not been affected, as our iron ore reserves are relatively sufficient,” he explained.

An iron ore trader in Tangshan, the largest steel base in Hebei province, confirmed early this morning