Posted on 30 Mar 2026
Inventories of the five major carbon steel products held by the Chinese steel mills sampled in Mysteel's regular survey continued the decline during the week of March 20-26 to reach 5.1 million tonnes, down for the second week and at the faster pace of 4.7% on week, compared with the previous week's 3% decrease.
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 all five steel items slipped by varying degrees, with those of rebar and wire rod posting the sharpest on-week falls, each down 7.2%.
Domestic steel demand from end-users has recovered gradually this month, contributing to the continuous fall in inventories held by both Chinese steel mills and traders, Mysteel Global noted.
Over March 20-26, total inventories of the five major steel products at traders' warehouses in the 132 Chinese cities monitored by Mysteel came in at 23.12 million tonnes, easing for the second week and by 2% from the prior week.
Transactions of finished steel in the physical market have also improved recently, with the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses nationwide under Mysteel's tracking averaging 95,613 tonnes/day over March 19-25, increasing by 1,056 t/d on week.
Meanwhile, China's finished steel prices diverged this week, with the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel's assessment edging down Yuan 6/tonne ($0.9/t) on week to Yuan 3,337/t including the 13% VAT on March 25. On the same day, Mysteel assessed the average price of Q235 4.75mm HRC nationwide at Yuan 3,330/t including the 13% VAT, higher by Yuan 13/t on week.
Although the firm prices of major steelmaking raw materials such as iron ore lent some cost support to domestic steel prices, the slower-than-expected recovery in steel demand, coupled with steady output by the steelmakers, may put pressure on the domestic steel market, industry watchers suggested.
Over March 19-25, total production of the five major steel items among the sampled steelmakers monitored by Mysteel reached 8.4 million tonnes, largely unchanged from the prior week.
Source:Mysteel
