Posted on 26 Jun 2026
Retail stocks of the five major carbon steel items stockpiled in the commercial warehouses across China that Mysteel regularly monitors rose by nearly 2% during the week of June 19-25, bringing an end to the 14-week slide in stocks, the results of Mysteel's latest weekly survey showed. Survey respondents blamed sluggish spot trading during the steel demand off-season.
Proof of the lacklustre demand showed in the 5.6% fall in the combined daily trading volume of construction steel over June 18-24 among the 237 trading houses nationwide under Mysteel's tracking which averaged 86,869 tonnes/day, lower by 5,162 t/d on week.
As of June 25, the total inventories of rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC) and medium plate held by traders in the 132 cities Mysteel monitors had mounted by 1.8% or 327,400 tonnes on week to 18.84 million tonnes, the survey results showed.
Stocks of all five finished steel items posted on-week rises, with those of rebar and medium plate contributing the most to the inventory build, the survey results indicated.
Specifically, rebar inventories had gained by 3.3% or by 245,400 tonnes on week to 7.61 million tonnes as of June 25, while stocks of medium plate had swollen by 1.8% or 44,100 tonnes on week to 2.44 million tonnes as of the same day.
The stock levels showed larger gains over the week as traders and end-users cut their procurement in their attempt to control inventory pressure, Mysteel Global noted.
Similarly, the combined stocks of the five finished steel items stored by the 137 steelmakers Mysteel regularly tracks had mounted by 5.8% or 250,000 tonnes on week to 4.56 million tonnes as of June 25.
Subdued demand in the physical market saw finished steel prices decline further this week, with Mysteel assessing the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar at Yuan 3,323/tonne ($488/t) including the 13% VAT on June 24, down by Yuan 51/t on week, while the average price of Q235 4.75mm HRC nationwide was lower by Yuan 38/t on week at Yuan 3,356/t including the 13% VAT on the same day.
Meanwhile, finished steel inventories held by traders in Mysteel's smaller sample of 35 cities also accumulated over the week. The same survey showed that the tonnage totaled 11.45 million tonnes as of June 25, climbing by 1.7% or by 189,700 tonnes from June 18.
Source:Mysteel Global
