Posted on 17 Jun 2026
A dip in May led China's crude steel output during the first five months of this year to reach 415.53 million tonnes, lower by 3.9% on year, according to the latest release from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday morning. The decline followed the 4.1% fall recorded during the January-April period, as Mysteel Global reported.
For May alone, China produced 84.36 million tonnes of crude steel for an on-year retreat of 2.7%, the NBS statistics showed. On a daily basis, the country's crude steel output averaged 2.72 million tonnes/day last month, slipping by 2.4% from the average for April, Mysteel Global calculated based on NBS data.
Last month, China's finished steel production reached 123.03 million tonnes, lower by 2.8% from May last year, while total finished output for the first five months registered 592.99 million tonnes, down by 1.5% compared with the same period last year, according to the NBS statistics.
Some Chinese steel mills slowed their pace of production in May, as the thin demand from end-users saw domestic steel prices lose the impetus to climb further in the second half of last month.
For example, on May 29, Mysteel assessed the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar at Yuan 3,423/tonne ($506/t) including the 13% VAT, falling by Yuan 88/t from the recent high on May 12, even though the price was still Yuan 8/t higher compared with the end of April.
Finished steel sales in the physical market slowed significantly in May amid the shrinking demand with the approach of the summer dull. Last month, the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses nationwide monitored by Mysteel averaged 97,837 tonnes/day, lower by 12,546 t/d or 11.3% on month.
China's coke prices strengthened in May as stringent safety checks of coal mines in North China's Shanxi have tightened supplies of coking coal and coke, as reported, lifting the production costs of steelmakers.
By the end of May, the national composite coke price under Mysteel's assessment came in at Yuan 1,572/t including the 13% VAT, jumping by Yuan 100/t on month.
Source:Mysteel Global
