Posted on 20 Jan 2026
Hot-rolled coil (HRC) production among the 37 Chinese steelmakers regularly surveyed by Mysteel edged up for a fourth successive week during January 8-14 to register 3.08 million tonnes, the latest survey results showed. The total was higher by just a tiny 28,500 tonnes or 0.93% on week, however.
As most steel mills could still enjoy some profits on HRC sales during the survey week, many opted to bring hot strip mills and melt shops back online from overhauls, as reported, leading coil supplies to continue mounting, market sources noted.
Consequently, the HRC rolling capacity utilization rate among the sampled mills ticked up by 0.73 percentage points on week to average 78.78% during the survey week, while their average operational rate also climbed 1.56 percentage points higher on week to 79.69%, the survey findings indicated.
On the macro-economic front, recent positive signs of government support for consumers including the cut in relending and rediscount rates announced by the People's Bank of China last Thursday buoyed market sentiment, causing HRC futures prices to trend higher at the end of last week.
By January 16, the most traded HRC contract for May delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed the daytime trading session at Yuan 3,315/tonne ($476/t), higher by Yuan 22/t or 0.67% from the previous week's settlement price.
Riding the sentiment, the national price for Q235 4.75mm hot coils under Mysteel's assessment also rose by Yuan 11/tonne or 0.33% on week to Yuan 3,317/t including the 13% VAT last Friday.
End-users of the coils, including fabricators and coated sheet producers, continued to procure the flat steel on a need-to-buy basis. As a result, HRC stocks at the 194 commercial warehouses in the 55 Chinese cities Mysteel monitors had decreased by 1.6% or 64,200 tonnes on week to 3.89 million tonnes by January 15.
In tandem, HRC stocks held by the surveyed mills also slipped by 1% to sit at 765,300 tonnes as of the same day.
Currently, HRC fundamentals continue to maintain a weak balance, with no clear driver to determine the market's future direction, industry sources commented.
Source:Mysteel Global
