Posted on 16 Jun 2025
Inventories of the five major carbon steel products held by the Chinese steel mills sampled in Mysteel's regular survey declined for the third consecutive week over June 6-12 to reach 4.27 million tonnes, lower by 1.3% on week.
The five steel items comprise rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC) and medium plate. During the survey period, stocks of most steel items declined by varying degrees except for the slight rise in inventories of HRC, the survey results showed.
The further decrease in mills' steel inventories was mainly attributed to the steady decline in their finished steel output, as more Chinese steel mills conducted maintenance on their steelmaking facilities in response to shrinking profit margins, Mysteel Global noted.
Over June 5-11, total production of the five steel items among the sampled steelmakers touched a three-month low of 8.6 million tonnes, down for the second week by 2.5% from the previous week.
Chinese mills' lower steel production eased the market pressure to some extent from the supply side, and domestic steel prices have shown some signs of stabilizing this week.
On June 11, Mysteel assessed the national average price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of domestic steel-market sentiment, at Yuan 3,236/tonne ($451/t) including the 13% VAT, rising by Yuan 24/t on week.
The national average price of Q235 4.75mm HRC under Mysteel's assessment had also gained by Yuan 5/t to Yuan 3,249/t including the 13% VAT during the same period.
Total inventories of the five major steel items at warehouses in the 132 Chinese cities monitored by Mysteel continued to move down slowly, with the total tonnage down 0.8% on week at 14.96 million tonnes, the lowest since late January, according to the survey.
However, steel sales in the physical market remain dull due to the frequent rainfalls in eastern and southern China. Over June 5-11, the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses nationwide under Mysteel's regular tracking averaged 102,119 tonnes/day, lower by 7,266 t/d or 6.6% from the prior week.
Source:Mysteel Global
