Posted on 13 Oct 2025
Daily crude steel output among the member mills of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) during September 21-30 averaged 1.89 million tonnes/day, lower by a significant 8.9% or 184,000 t/d from the previous ten-day period, according to the latest release from the association on October 10.
The average also represented a 6.2% on-year decline compared with the corresponding period last year, according to the release.
Based on the same dataset, CISA estimated that China's nationwide crude steel production over late-September averaged 2.34 million t/d, slipping by the same 8.9% from September 11-20.
CISA attributed the output drop to mandated production suspensions among member mills in North China's Hebei province over the last ten days of last month as part of government efforts to reduce atmospheric pollution.
Apart from the production curbs, some steelmakers also proactively conducted blast furnace maintenance in response to softening finished steel prices and narrowing profit margins on steel sales, Mysteel Global noted.
For instance, on September 30 Mysteel had assessed China's national spot price for HRB400E 20mm dia rebar at Yuan 3,261/tonne ($457/t) including the 13% VAT, down by Yuan 38/t from the price on September 19. In a survey conducted at the same time among the 247 steel mills Mysteel regularly checks mills, only about 140 makers said they were earning money on their steel sales on September 30, five fewer than the number on September 19.
On the steel demand side late last month, the expected collective restocking by end-users before China's October 1-8 National Day holiday fell short of expectations. In addition, torrential rains brought by Super Typhoon Ragasa in South China's Guangdong province on September 24 severely disrupted outdoor construction activities and logistics, impacting steel sales and deliveries, as Mysteel Global reported.
Over September 21-30, the daily spot trading volume of construction steel products including rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses under Mysteel's tracking averaged 102,887 tonnes/day, dipping by 1.3% or 1,357 t/d from mid-September.
Meanwhile, another CISA release also published on Friday showed that finished steel stocks held by the member mills totalled 14.67 million tonnes as over late-September, dropping by a mild 4.1% or 620,000 tonnes from the previous ten-day period.
Source:Mysteel Global
