Posted on 26 Jan 2026
Inventories of the five major carbon steel products held by the Chinese steel mills sampled in Mysteel's regular survey edged higher during January 16-22 after the decline during the prior week, with the total tonnage rising by 2.1% on week to 3.89 million tonnes.
The five major steel items comprise rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil and medium plate. During the survey period, inventories of medium plated dipped by 0.5% from the prior week, while those of other major steel items increased by varying degrees, the findings showed.
Steel demand from end-users has contracted further recently during the traditional winter lull. Meanwhile, a sharp drop in temperature, coupled with widespread snow and rain across the country, have hampered outdoor construction work, leading to a decline in finished steel sales, Mysteel Global noted.
Over January 15-21, the combined daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses nationwide under Mysteel's tracking averaged 84,169 tonnes/day, sliding by 6,055 t/d or 6.7% from the previous week.
However, China's finished steel output has remained stable overall, with the total volume of the five major steel products made by the sampled mills reaching 8.2 million tonnes over January 15-21, increasing for the fourth consecutive week by a tiny 0.1% on week.
Domestic steel prices lost ground this week amid the weakening fundamentals, with the national average price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar falling by Yuan 25/tonne ($3.6/t) on week to reach Yuan 3,317/t including the 13% VAT as of January 21, according to Mysteel's assessment, while that of Q235 4.75mm HRC dipped by Yuan 9/t during the same period to Yuan 3,298/t including the 13% VAT.
Steel inventories of the five major steel items at traders' warehouses in the 132 Chinese cities monitored by Mysteel also mounted during January 16-22 amid the thin demand, with the tonnage climbing for the third straight week by 0.8% on week to reach 14.68 million tonnes, according to the survey.
Source:Mysteel Global
