Posted on 26 Jan 2026
Rebar output among the 137 Chinese steel mills Mysteel regularly checks totalled around 2 million tonnes over the week of January 15-21, increasing by a sizable 4.9% or 92,500 tonnes on week, according to Mysteel's weekly survey.
Similarly, the rebar rolling capacity utilization rate among the sampled mills averaged 43.7% during the same period, climbing by 2 percentage points on week, while the average run rate also grew by 1 percentage point to 39.7%, another Mysteel's survey showed.
Some steel mills switched some of their rebar rolling mills back online after finishing year-end maintenance, seen as the main reason for the substantial production gain on week, the report suggests. By province, Central China's Hubei, East China's Jiangsu and North China's Shanxi contributed the most to the output rebound of the long steel item, Mysteel's survey results showed.
A strong cold wave had hit large areas of China this week with rainfall and heavy snow reported in many areas, both of which greatly disrupted outdoor construction activities and dampened spot transactions for the bars. This, coupled with rising rebar production, collectively weighed on the market fundamentals for the construction steel product this week and resulted in the sharp inventory accumulation, Mysteel Global noted.
The daily spot trading volume of long steel products comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses under Mysteel's tracking averaged 81,240 tonnes/day over January 16-22, down by a significant 10.4% or 9,459 t/d on week.
Rebar stocks held by traders in commercial warehouses in the 35 cities Mysteel regularly checks mounted by 2.6% or 77,100 tonnes on week to reach 3.03 million tonnes as of January 22.
The subdued end-user demand also posed downside pressure on China's rebar prices this week, with the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 3,318/tonne ($476/t) on January 22, declining by Yuan 27/t from the level on January 15.
Source:Mysteel Global
