Posted on 06 Jun 2025
Chinese blast-furnace (BF) mills started to lose money on sales of rebar in May, and their profits on sales of hot-rolled coil (HRC) and medium plate also declined due to the persistent weakness in prices of finished steel, according to Mysteel's latest monthly survey among 91 BF mills nationwide.
Last month, the average loss on rebar sales among the sampled mills registered Yuan 44/tonne ($6.1/t) as against the average profit they had made in April of Yuan 26/t.
Meanwhile, the surveyed steel producers achieved an average profit of Yuan 30/t on HRC sales last month, down by Yuan 41/t from April, while their average profit on sales of medium plate dropped by Yuan 93/t on month to reach Yuan 170/t, the survey results showed.
Chinese BF mills' margins on finished steel sales (Unit: Yuan/t)
Products | May | Apr | MoM |
Rebar | -44 | 26 | -70 |
HRC | 30 | 71 | -41 |
Medium plate | 170 | 263 | -93 |
Source: Mysteel
Last month, the average production cost of making rebar among the sampled steelmakers decreased by Yuan 17/t to Yuan 3,060/t including the 13% VAT. Those for making HRC and medium plate slipped by Yuan 18/t and Yuan 17/t respectively on month to reach Yuan 3,157/t and Yuan 3,168/t including the VAT, according to the survey.
Prices of some major steelmaking raw materials weakened in May, reducing the production costs of the sampled steelmakers, Mysteel Global notes.
For May, Mysteel SEADEX 62% Australian Fines index averaged $99/dmt CFR Qingdao, unchanged from the prior month, while the average price of second-grade metallurgical coke in North China declined by Yuan 13/t on month to Yuan 1,305/t, the findings showed.
However, prices of finished steel lost ground in the second half of May. Shrinking demand from end-users and the negative sentiment prevailing in the domestic steel market had dampened the profitability of the Chinese mills.
For example, China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of domestic steel-market sentiment, was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 3,230/t including the 13% VAT by the end of May, lower by Yuan 121/t on month. That of Q235 4.75mm HRC had also slipped by Yuan 75/t on month to Yuan 3,256/t including the VAT.
Spot sales of finished steel slowed in May due to thinning demand in southern China during the rainy season there. Mysteel's data showed that during last month, the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among 237 Chinese trading houses nationwide averaged 102,422 tonnes/day, down by 13,255 t/d or 11.5% on month.
Source:Mysteel Global
