Posted on 05 Dec 2025
Retail inventories of the five major finished steel products in China continued to decline over November 28-December 4, primarily due to the broad production reduction over the survey week, according to Mysteel's latest weekly survey.
The combined stocks of rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC) and medium plate held by traders and piled at commercial warehouses in the 132 cities Mysteel regularly checks posted broader losses over the survey week, down by 2.4% or 395,600 tonnes on week to 15.96 million tonnes as of December 4. During the week of November 21-27, stocks of the five items had eased by a smaller 1.8% or 302,700 tonnes on week, as Mysteel Global reported.
Despite the on-week slip this week, the figure was still higher by a huge 18.9% compared with the same period last year, the survey results showed, showing that the final months of 2025 are proving difficult ones for traders.
Among the five carbon steel items, rebar contributed the most to the inventory drop, accounting for about 73.9% of the total slide. Specifically, rebar stocks stood at 5.49 million tonnes as of December 4, lower by 5.1% or 292,200 tonnes from the prior week. Meanwhile, HRC inventories eased by 1.1% or 50,100 tonnes on week to sit at 4.32 million tonnes as of the same day.
The main reason for the on-month inventory fall was the sharp decline in output of the five finished steel items, noted a Shanghai-based analyst. Another Mysteel weekly survey showed that total output of the five products among the 137 Chinese steel mills under Mysteel's tracking dropped by 3.1% or 267,600 tonnes on week to equal 8.29 million tonnes over November 27-December 3, marking the lowest weekly output in 9.5 months.
Similarly, as of December 4, finished steel stocks held by traders in Mysteel's smaller sample across just 35 cities had trended downwards as well, declining by a slightly larger 2.9% or 236,200 tonnes on week to 9.79 million tonnes and hovering below the 10-million-tonne threshold for the first time since August 14.
Source:Mysteel Global
