Posted on 28 Apr 2026
Hot-rolled coil (HRC) production among the 37 Chinese steelmakers regularly surveyed by Mysteel climbed further by 31,000 tonnes or 1% on week to 3.06 million tonnes during April 16-22 after a hot strip mill at an East China-based steel mill resumed operations last week, Mysteel’s survey showed.
During the survey week, the capacity utilization rate of the hot strip mills operated by the 37 sampled mills rose 0.79 percentage point to 78.1%, while their average operation rate also recovered by 1.56 percentage points to 79.69%.
The higher output caused hot coil inventories held by the 37 surveyed mills to rise moderately by 22,900 tonnes or 2.9% on week to reach 824,100 tonnes by April 23.
On the other hand, a steady recovery in downstream demand caused hot coil stocks at the 194 commercial warehouses nationwide to decline for a seventh week, with the volume thinning by 2.3% or 111,600 tonnes on week to 4.73 million tonnes as of the same day, Mysteel's tracking found.
The cautious optimism still prevailing in the current market saw some traders even opt to hold onto their coils in anticipation of further rises in prices, market sources suggested.
On April 24, Mysteel assessed the national spot price of Q235 4.75mm HRC at Yuan 3,387/t including the 13% VAT, higher by a sizeable Yuan 47/t on week.
In parallel, on April 24 the most-traded HRC contract for October delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange also closed at Yuan 3,392/t ($497/t), higher by a pronounced Yuan 69/t or 2.1% from the settlement price one week before, the exchange's data showed.
With cost support remaining firm, this, coupled with restocking needs among end-user firms ahead of China's coming five-day May Day holiday, is expected to see some further upward momentum in hot coil prices this week, Mysteel predicts.
Source:Mysteel Global
