Posted on 11 Mar 2026
China's blast-furnace (BF) steel mills suffered steeper losses on finished steel sales in February, mainly due to the slight rise in their production costs and the weakness of finished steel prices, according to Mysteel's latest monthly survey.
Last month, the average loss on rebar sales among the sampled steelmakers was Yuan 30/tonne ($4.4/t), compared to the loss of Yuan 15/t in January. Meanwhile, their average loss on sales of hot-rolled coil (HRC) also widened by Yuan 19/t month-on-month to reach Yuan 28/t.
During last month as well, domestic BF steel producers reported an average loss of Yuan 40/t on sales of medium plate, deepening by Yuan 20/t from the prior month, the findings showed.
Chinese BF mills' margins on finished steel sales (Unit: Yuan/t)
Products | Feb | Jan | MoM |
Rebar | -30 | -15 | -15 |
HRC | -28 | -9 | -19 |
Medium plate | -40 | -20 | -20 |
Source: Mysteel
During February, the production costs of domestic steel mills increased slightly due mainly to the higher prices of some steelmaking raw materials such as metallurgical coke, Mysteel Global noted. This eroded their profitability on finished steel sales to some extent.
In February, the average production cost for making rebar among the sampled BF steelmakers gained by Yuan 4/t on month to reach Yuan 3,083/t including the 13% VAT, while those for making HRC and medium plate edged up Yuan 1/t and Yuan 3/t respectively on month to Yuan 3,238/t and Yuan 3,278/t including the VAT, according to the survey.
Last month, the average price of second-grade metallurgical coke in North China was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 1,427/t, higher by Yuan 43/t on month. On the other hand, the Mysteel SEADEX 62% Australian Fines iron ore index slipped by $5/dmt on month to $101/dmt CFR Qingdao though the reduction was not large enough to offset higher costs elsewhere.
China's finished steel prices weakened in February amid the quiet market around the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday over February 15-23, as many end-users left the market to celebrate the occasion. This was cited as another major factor for Chinese BF steelmakers' poor profitability in February, Mysteel Global learned.
During February, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar averaged Yuan 3,305/t including the 13% VAT, falling by Yuan 23/t from the previous month, according to Mysteel's assessment, while the national average price of Q235 4.75mm HRC was calculated at Yuan 3,279/t including the 13% VAT, lower by Yuan 23/t on month.
Transactions of finished steel in the physical market came to a standstill in February, and inventories held by both domestic steel mills and traders steadily accumulated.
By the end of February, total inventories of the five major carbon steel products – namely rebar, wire rod, HRC, cold-rolled coil (CRC) and medium plate – held by Chinese steel mills sampled in Mysteel's regular survey stood at 5.5 million tonnes, soaring by 41.9% from one month earlier.
During the same period, stocks of the five major steel items at traders' warehouses in the 132 Chinese cities monitored by Mysteel reached 21.84 million tonnes, rising by a similarly large 44.8% from the end of January.
Source:Mysteel Global
