Posted on 18 May 2026
Daily crude steel output among the member mills of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) recovered during May 1-10, with the tonnage increasing by 3.6% or 74,000 tonnes/day from the late-April period to average 2.11 million t/d, according to the latest release from the association on May 14.
Despite the rise, the average was still lower by 4.3% compared to the same ten days last year, CISA indicated in the release.
Based on the same dataset, the association estimated that daily crude steel output among both member mills and non-member mills averaged 2.83 million t/d during the period, higher by the same 3.6% from late April, the CISA report indicated.
In its release, the association remarked at the "relatively large changes" in crude steel output and suggested that one reason would be the completion of maintenance stoppages by some large member mills.
On the other hand, daily finished steel output among CISA member mills averaged 1.94 million t/d over May 1-10, dropping by 9.9% or 213,000 t/d from the final ten days of April, the same release showed.
The association explained the moderate drop in finished steel output by citing a high base effect caused by the substantial volume of finished steel put into storage by several member mills over late-April, as Mysteel Global reported.
But even excluding that factor, daily finished steel output was still lower by 8.5% from April 21-30, the report showed.
Another possible reason for the production decline was that some member mills conducted maintenance of their rolling mills over May Day holiday from May 1-5 in response to muted market activity over the period, Mysteel Global noted.
The quietened market had also led to an accumulation of finished steel inventories held by those CISA member mills, with the tonnage mounting by 9.4% or 1.45 million tonnes from April 30 to 16.88 million tonnes as of May 10, another release issued on the same day indicated.
In contrast, finished steel inventories held by traders in 21 Chinese cities CISA checks had declined further over the period, with the tonnage falling by 2.2% or 220,000 tonnes from April 30 to 10 million tonnes as of May 10, another CISA release showed.
Source:Mysteel Global
