Posted on 08 Aug 2025
The stocks of finished steel products at the Chinese trading houses nationwide that Mysteel tracks rose for a fourth week during August 1-7, growing by 2.2% on week a quicker pace than the 1.4% gain recorded during the prior week, the latest stocks survey shows. The poor summer demand for steel products among end-users was mainly to blame, a market insider explained.
By Thursday, total inventories of the five major steel products comprising rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil and medium plate held by the traders in 132 cities under Mysteel's regular coverage had increased by 331,400 tonnes on week to nearly a 2.5-month high of 15.6 million tonnes.
All five items had witnessed an accumulation in their stocks, with HRC and rebar mounting the most during the survey week. Stocks of the former rose by 160,200 tonnes to 3.7 million tonnes, while those of the latter were up 83,400 tonnes at 5.9 million tonnes, Mysteel's data found.
The weak seasonal demand was exacerbated by persistent heavy rains and extreme heat across many parts of China which have hampered construction activity and curbed steel consumption, a market source noted. He added that speculative buying has also slowed, as market sentiment cools and steel prices show little sign of upward momentum.
The spot trading volume of long steel products comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses Mysteel checks across the country declined by 8.1% or 8,622 tonnes/day on week to average 98,224 t/d over July 31-August 6.
During the same period, China's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a barometer of the country's steel-market sentiment, had dropped by Yuan 59/tonne ($8.2/t) on week by August 6 to Yuan 3,404/t and including the 13% VAT, according to Mysteel's assessment.
However, a source in East China's Zhejiang province told Mysteel Global that local steel inventories there remain at a low level compared with previous years, despite the poor demand at present.
As of Thursday, inventories of the five steel finished steel products in Mysteel's smaller sample across 35 cities had also mounted for the fourth successive week, rising by 2.1% or 201,300 tonnes on week to 9.6 million tonnes.
Source:Mysteel Global
