Posted on 20 May 2025
After inching up for four consecutive weeks, production of hot-rolled coils (HRC) among the 37 Chinese flat steel producers Mysteel regularly monitors retreated during the May 9-15 week to 3.12 million tonnes, down by 84,000 tonnes or 2.6% on week, the results of Mysteel's latest production survey show.
The hot-rolling capacity utilization rate among the sampled mills also eased by 2.15 percentage points to average 79.7% during the same period, the results indicated.
Some steel mills in North and East China had halted hot strip mills to conduct maintenance during the survey period, resulting in the on-week decrease in HRC output, survey respondents explained.
Prices of Chinese hot coils increased in both the futures and spot markets during the survey period, and trading activity of the flat product also picked up.
In the derivatives market, the Shanghai Futures Exchange's most-traded October HRC contract recorded gains for the four trading days last week, with the price by May 16 showing a 2.2% on week rise to close the daytime trading session at Yuan 3,226/tonne ($447/t).
Similarly, China's national price of Q235 4.75mm HRC under Mysteel's assessment rose by 1.1% on week to reach Yuan 3,343/t including the VAT by Friday. But notably, hot coil orders concluded at high prices were relatively few, as most buyers still focused on buying coils for their immediate needs, market watchers noted.
Meanwhile, by May 15, HRC inventories held by the 37 surveyed mills had dropped by 7.8% on week to 782,200 tonnes. The same day, those held by traders at commercial warehouses in the 33 Chinese cities that Mysteel monitors nationwide had also declined by 3.9% on week to 2.69 million tonnes.
Source:Mysteel Global
