Posted on 01 Jun 2026
Inventories of the five major carbon steel products held by the Chinese steel mills sampled in Mysteel's regular survey declined by 3.1% on week over May 22-28 to reach 4.16 million tonnes, more than offsetting the previous week's 3% rise.
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 most major steel items declined by varying degrees, while the stocks of CRC climbed by 3.5% from the previous week, the findings showed.
Steel inventories held by Chinese traders continued to decline this week, but at a slower pace, as demand from end-users shrank during the wet season in southern China. Finished steel sales in the physical market also remained dull, Mysteel Global noted.
Over May 22-28, stocks of the five major steel products at traders' warehouses in the 132 Chinese cities monitored by Mysteel totaled 18.87 million tonnes, dipping by 0.9% on week, a far milder decline than the prior week's 2.2%, according to the survey.
Mysteel's other survey showed that over May 21-27, the combined daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses nationwide under its tracking averaged 85,979 tonnes/day, lower by 6,261 t/d or 6.8% on week.
China's domestic steel prices lost the impetus to climb further during the second half of this week amid the lackluster demand. On May 27, Mysteel assessed the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar at Yuan 3,422/tonne ($505/t) including the 13% VAT, slipping by Yuan 18/t from one week earlier.
During the same period, the average price of Q235 4.75mm HRC nationwide under Mysteel's assessment fell by Yuan 22/t on week to Yuan 3,421/t including the13% VAT.
Recently, China's finished steel output has remained generally stable, with that of the five major steel items among the sampled steelmakers totaling 8.64 million tonnes over May 21-27, rising for the third consecutive week, albeit by a tiny 0.2% on week, the findings showed.
Source:Mysteel Global
