Posted on 15 Dec 2025
China's construction steel demand is expected to drop this month due to the seasonal slowdown, according to the findings of Mysteel's latest monthly survey. The decelerated construction progress for ongoing projects, coupled with fewer new projects at year-end, may also dampen steel demand, the survey report warns.
The prediction is based on the actual volumes of construction steel products bought by domestic end-users in November and their purchase plans for these products this month.
Mysteel's regular tracking of over 200 domestic construction enterprises showed that they purchased a total of 5.98 million tonnes of steel products in November, lower by 2.1% from October.
This month, the building contractors plan to purchase 5.69 million tonnes of steel products, some 4.9% less compared with their actual purchases last month, the survey results showed.
Their actual buying volumes for this month may fall faster, as the seasonal slowdown is likely to intensify during December with more regions nationwide experiencing lower temperatures. Meanwhile, new project starts are expected to wind down toward year-end, and ongoing projects may also be delayed, suggesting a decrease in steel demand, the findings showed.
Besides, many domestic building contractors are facing serious financial pressure, and most intend to purchase based on their immediate needs while keeping their steel stocks at a low level, given the market uncertainties ahead.
Transactions of construction steel in the physical market have slowed so far this month. Mysteel's survey among the 237 trading houses nationwide under its tracking showed that over December 1-11, their daily trading volume of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil averaged 99,519 tonnes/day, slightly lower than the average of 100,373 t/d for November.
The thin demand has also caused domestic spot rebar prices to lose the impetus to rise further. As of December 11, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 3,297/tonne ($467/t) including the 13% VAT, down by Yuan 34/t from the recent high on December 2, though the price was Yuan 6/t higher compared with the end of November.
Source:Mysteel Global
