Posted on 04 Jul 2025
Finished steel inventories at trading houses across China under Mysteel's tracking recorded a modest increase of 0.9% during the week of June 27-July 3, ending a seven-week retreat. The slight buildup was primarily attributed to softer steel demand amid the hot and humid weather conditions, as well as rising production, according to Mysteel's latest survey.
As of Thursday, total stocks of the five major steel products – rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC), and medium plate – held by traders in 132 Chinese cities had risen by 128,600 tonnes on week to reach 14.93 million tonnes.
Among these, inventories of rebar, wire rod, HRC, and medium plate all posted on-week increases, with medium plate seeing the largest jump – up 59,700 tonnes at 2.04 million tonnes. In contrast, CRC was the only steel item to register a decline, with inventories falling by 16,900 tonnes to 2.24 million tonnes.
An industry watcher in East China's Jiangsu province noted that extreme heat in the region had significantly curbed long steel demand from end-users such as building contractors and had impacted spot trading.
China's National Meteorological Center issued another yellow alert for high temperatures on Thursday, warning that heatwave conditions would persist across many regions. Daytime temperatures of 37-39°C were forecast for parts of North China's Hebei, East China's Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Central China's Henan, Hubei and Hunan, Southwest China's Chongqing and Southeast China's Fujian and Jiangxi, Mysteel Global notes.
Over June 26-July 2, the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses Mysteel follows nationwide averaged a mere 106,821 tonnes/day, plunging by 16.5% or 21,175 t/d from the same period last year.
Rising steel production had also caused the stocks to mount. Total output of these five major steel products among the 184 Chinese mills Mysteel checks swelled for a third week last week, rising by 0.5% or 41,700 tonnes to 8.85 million tonnes, almost a one-year high.
The inventories of finished steel products in Mysteel's smaller sample across 35 cities also increased, mounting by 1.1% or 96,200 tonnes on week to 9.16 million tonnes by Thursday.
Source:Mysteel Global
