Posted on 24 May 2022
Rebar output among the 137 Chinese steel producers under Mysteel's regular survey declined last week after rising for the prior two weeks, falling by 4.8% or 150,100 tonnes on week to reach 2.95 million tonnes over May 12-18, chiefly because many domestic mills including both integrated mills and mini-mills had curtailed production or scaled back operations for maintenance due to their squeezed margins, survey respondents said.
The survey showed that mills – especially those located in Northeast China's Heilongjiang, Southwest China's Guizhou, South China's Guangdong and Central China's Hubei and Henan – witnessed significant on-week declines in rebar output.
During the survey week, both the average capacity utilization rate and operational rate of the rebar rolling lines at the surveyed producers decreased, with the former slipping 3.3 percentage points on week to 64.7%, and the latter declining by 1.3 percentage points on week to 53.4%, Mysteel's surveys showed.
Domestic steel prices trended steadily downwards last week. As of May 20, China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a barometer of the country's steel-market sentiment, was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 4,849/tonne ($727/t) including the 13% VAT, dropping Yuan 107/t on week and making for a two-week decline.
China's steel demand recovered at a slower pace than expected last week. The spot trading volume of construction steel including rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 Chinese steel traders under Mysteel's tracking rose by 9,374 tonnes/day or 6.4% on week to 156,487 t/d on average over May 16-20.
In the coming ten days, heavy rainfalls are forecast in the southern part of China, and steel consumption may remain weak in the near term, survey respondents noted.
Rebar inventories at the 137 surveyed mills continued to grow last week, with the volume increasing for the fourth straight week, up 22,900 tonnes or 0.6% on week to 3.6 million tonnes as of May 18, while the tonnage at the commercial warehouses in the 35 Chinese cities Mysteel monitors thinned for the second week, declining by 177,700 tonnes or 2.1% on week to reach 8.4 million tonnes as of May 19.
Source:Mysteel Global
