Posted on 29 Sep 2025
Total inventories of the five major carbon steel products held by the Chinese steel mills sampled in Mysteel's regular survey reversed up over September 19-25 after the decrease over the prior two weeks, with the volume rising slightly by 0.7% on week to 4.21 million tonnes.
The five steel items comprise rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC) and medium plate. During the latest survey period, inventories of both wire rod and HRC posted on-week rises, while those of other three steel items slipped slightly, the survey results showed.
One major reason for the inventory accumulation was a recovery in finished steel output among the surveyed steel mills, as some mills resumed operations after completing maintenance on their steelmaking facilities.
Mysteel's other survey showed that over September 18-24, total production of the five major steel items among these sampled mills came in at 8.65 million tonnes, increasing by 1.1% on week after declines for three consecutive weeks.
In addition, steel transactions in the physical market were tepid in the survey week, partly as demand from end-users in southern China was disrupted by Typhoon Ragasa, which made landfall in Guangdong province on Wednesday and brought torrential rainfall and violent gusts to the region, as reported.
Over September 18-24, the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses nationwide under Mysteel's tracking slipped by 5,409 t/d or 5% on week to average 102,444 tonnes/day, with that in southern China slumping by 21% on week during the same period.
However, steel demand in eastern and northern regions of China improved thanks to end-users' replenishment moves ahead of the country's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday over October 1-8, Mysteel Global noted.
China's finished steel prices showed mixed trends in the past few days, with the national average price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar reaching Yuan 3,306/tonne ($464/t) including the 13% VAT on September 24, the same level as one week before, while that of Q235 4.75mm HRC under Mysteel's assessment slipped by Yuan 19/t on week to Yuan 3,438/t including the 13% VAT.
Inventories of the five major steel products at warehouses in the 132 Chinese cities tracked by Mysteel declined over September 19-25 to reach 17.65 million tonnes, down by 1.4% on week and ending the persistent rise since mid-July, according to the survey.
Source:Mysteel Global
