Posted on 18 Jul 2025
Stocks of the five major finished steel products at commercial warehouses across the 132 Chinese cities tracked by Mysteel increased over July 11-17, reversing the modest decline seen during the week prior. Total inventories rose by 0.9% or 137,500 tonnes on week to 15.02 million tonnes, marking a one-month high, according to Mysteel's latest weekly survey.
A breakdown of Mysteel's data revealed diverging trends across steel item categories, however. Inventories of rebar, wire rod, and medium plate all registered on-week gains, with rebar seeing the largest increase, climbing by 104,400 tonnes to 5.67 million tonnes as of Thursday.
The rise in longs stocks was mainly attributed to sluggish construction activity, as scorching temperatures and frequent rainfalls have curtailed outdoor work across many regions of China, Mysteel Global notes.
In contrast, inventories of hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil declined by 39,900 tonnes and 9,400 tonnes respectively during the same period, to 3.5 million tonnes and 2.23 million tonnes. Market participants attributed the drop in flat steel stocks to relatively stable demand from the manufacturing sector and moderate shipment activity last week.
Mysteel's tracking of daily trading volumes among the 237 steel trading houses it follows nationwide showed that their spot sales of long steel products – including rebar, wire rod, and bar-in-coil – averaged 99,161 tonnes/day over July 10-16. Although this was up by 2.5% from the previous week, it was still down by a steep 20.3% on year, underlining the weak state of demand.
"Typhoon Danas disrupted transportation and dampened construction progress in parts of China last week, such as in Fujian," a regional trader noted. "Procurement slowed accordingly, and traders were cautious with their sales."
Similarly, steel inventories held by traders in Mysteel's smaller sample of 35 major cities rose by 0.9% or 81,000 tonnes on week to reach 9.22 million tonnes by Thursday, mirroring the broader national trend.
Source:Mysteel Global
