Posted on 06 Jul 2026
Inventories of the five major carbon steel products held by the Chinese steel mills sampled in Mysteel's regular survey declined slightly during the period of June 26-July 2, with the total tonnage standing at 4.54 million tonnes, dipping by 0.5% from the prior week.
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 wire rod and HRC climbed higher, while those of other major steel items decreased by varying degrees, the survey results showed.
The decrease in total inventories held by Chinese mills was mainly due to the higher volumes of steel products being delivered to traders' warehouses during the survey period, Mysteel Global noted.
Although transactions in the physical steel market improved this week as some end-users replenished their stocks, overall demand remained lackluster during the summer lull in consumption.
Mysteel's other survey showed that over June 25-July 1, 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 92,962 tonnes/day, still a low level despite the on-week rise of 6,094 t/d.
China's finished steel prices weakened steadily amid the sluggish demand. On July 1, Mysteel assessed the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar at Yuan 3,291/tonne ($485/t) including the 13% VAT, slipping by Yuan 32/t from one week before. The same day, Mysteel assessed the average price of Q235 4.75mm HRC nationwide at Yuan 3,328/t including the 13% VAT for an on-week fall of Yuan 30/t.
Inventories of the five products held by Chinese traders continued to mount during the same survey week to reach 19.2 million tonnes, up for the second week by 1.9% on week and evidencing the thin end-user demand, according to the survey.
China's steel output recovered slightly this week with the resumption of some mills after completing maintenance on their steelmaking facilities. Over June 25-July 1, total output of the five major steel products among the sampled steel mills registered 8.64 million tonnes, up 0.6% on week.
Source:Mysteel Global
