Posted on 24 Aug 2022
China's rebar output from 137 steel producers nationwide under Mysteel's survey had increased for the fourth successive week by another 123,000 tonnes or 4.9% to 2.65 million tonnes over August 11-17.
The rebar rolling capacity utilization rate at the surveyed producers rose by 2.7 percentage points on week to 58.1%, and their operational rate increased by nearly 3 percentage points to 46.9%, with integrated mills contributing most to the growth in long steel production, the survey suggested.
Steel mills in Jiangsu and Shandong in East China and Shanxi in North China saw their longs output grow substantially amid improving profit margins, though the latest rebar weekly output was still 18.3% lower on year.
Chinese rebar prices had been trending downwards largely due to shaky market sentiment and dull demand. As of August 22, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel's assessment lost Yuan 82/tonne ($12/t) on week to Yuan 4,228/t including the 13% VAT.
Spot sales of construction steel including rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among 237 Chinese trading houses under Mysteel's survey averaged 137,997 tonnes/day over August 15-19, down 7.1% on week, as actual demand for construction steel was subdued due to lingering high temperatures in many cities.
Rebar stocks at 137 Chinese steel mills and commercial warehouses in 35 cities under Mysteel's coverage continued to fall during the survey week, with the former thinning for the eighth week by 2.3% or 49,800 tonnes on week to 2.1 million tonnes as of August 17, and the latter down for the ninth week by 7.2% or 410,900 tonnes to 5.3 million tonnes as of August 18, both refreshing their 6.5-month lows.
Source:Mysteel Global
