Posted on 31 Oct 2025
Inventories of the five major carbon steel products held in the commercial warehouses of Chinese traders in the 132 cities under Mysteel's tracking declined further during October 24-30, the findings of Mysteel's latest weekly survey show.
The traders' stocks of the five major steel items – rebar, wire rod, medium plate, hot-rolled coil (HRC) and cold-rolled coil (CRC) – totalled 17.43 million tonnes as of October 30, down by 1.7% or 309,000 tonnes from the level on October 23.
Inventories of each of the five products logged on-week falls, with those of rebars and HRC being the most significant.
Specifically, rebar stocks totalled 6.44 million tonnes as of October 30, easing by 1.3% or 87,000 tonnes on week, while HRC inventories totalled 4.46 million tonnes as of the same day, declining by 1.9% or 84,600 tonnes on week.
One reason for the reduction in stocks of the major steel items was speculative buying after traders regained some market confidence, sources noted. Their mood was buoyed by several positive macroeconomic developments through the week including progress in defusing China-US trade tension and the US Federal Reserve's interest rate cut on October 29, Mysteel Global noted.
Consequently, the daily trading volume of construction steel products comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses Mysteel regularly monitors rose markedly on week, with the tonnage averaging 107,598 tonnes/day over October 23-29, up by 6.9% or 6,942 t/d on week.
Riding the upbeat market sentiment, prices of major ferrous derivatives also rose significantly on week. For instance, the most-traded rebar futures contract for next January delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed the daytime trading session on October 30 at Yuan 3,106/tonne ($437/t), up by Yuan 37/t compared to the settlement price on October 23.
The warming futures market gave a boost to spot market conditions as well. For example, on October 29 Mysteel assessed the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar at Yuan 3,261/t including the 13% VAT, rising by 1.4% or Yuan 45/t on week.
Likewise, as of October 30, finished steel stocks held by traders in Mysteel's smaller sample across just 35 cities slid as well, easing by 2.1% or 226,400 tonnes on week to 10.77 million tonnes.
Source:Mysteel Global
