Posted on 09 May 2025
Chinese prices of construction steel including rebar and wire rod are likely to trend lower this month as persisting high levels of production undermine the market, Mysteel predicts in its latest monthly report.
In April, domestic prices of construction steel products had witnessed small gains. For example, by April 30 China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of the domestic steel market sentiment, had ticked up by Yuan 9/tonne ($1.2/t) from end-March to reach Yuan 3,351/t and including the 13% VAT, Mysteel's assessment showed.
On the production side, construction steel output across the country grew last month as mills' production enthusiasm had been buoyed by healthier profit margins on steel sales. By end-April, weekly output of rebars among the 137 Chinese steelmakers Mysteel tracks had risen by 16,800 tonnes on month to 2.29 million tonnes, Mysteel's data indicated. In parallel, weekly output of wire rod among the 92 mills Mysteel monitors came in at 849,900 tonnes by end-April, higher by 52,300 tonnes from the last week of March.
During May, construction steel production is expected to grow further though within a limited range, the report observed.
On the other hand, during April the volumes of construction steel items stocked at mills and held by traders had both decreased, with the latter seeing their stocks fall at a faster pace, according to the report. As of the end of April, rebar inventories at the 137 sampled steelmakers totalled 1.94 million tonnes, lower 158,000 tonnes on month and by some 494,000 tonnes from end-April last year.
Meanwhile, by end-April the tonnage at traders' warehouses in the 35 cities Mysteel follows had plunged by 1.01 million tonnes on month and by 1.97 million tonnes on year to 5.09 million tonnes, according to Mysteel's data.
Last month's sharp drop in total construction steel inventories brought stocks to a multi-year low, the report stated, predicting that there will be room for inventories to thin this month too.
The report also pointed out that spot steel trading had picked up further in April – normally a peak month for steel consumption – with spot trading volume of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses Mysteel checks rising by 7.4% on month to average 115,677 t/d last month.
Source:Mysteel Global
