Posted on 07 Jul 2026
Hot-rolled coil (HRC) production among the 37 Chinese steelmakers regularly surveyed by Mysteel edged up by a minimal 0.59% or 17,600 tonnes on week to 3.02 million tonnes during June 25-July 1, the results of Mysteel's latest survey showed.
Most hot strip mills operated by the 37 sampled mills continued running normally during the survey week, Mysteel Global noted.
The average capacity utilization rate for strip mills among the surveyed makers rose by a tiny 0.45 percentage point on week to 77.23% during June 25-July 1, while their operation rate remained flat on week at 81.25%, according to the survey results.
Consumption of hot coils among end-users remained subdued in the on-going summer lull, the survey's findings showed, with HRC inventories held by the 37 sampled mills nudging up by 1,800 tonnes to 0.22% to 803,300 tonnes as of July 2.
Likewise, HRC stocks in the 194 commercial warehouses nationwide that Mysteel monitors had mounted by a larger 83,800 tonnes or 1.8% on week to reach 4.68 million tonnes, Mysteel Global noted.
The rise in hot coil inventories in the stock yards of mills and traders, together with slackened demand from China's infrastructure and manufacturing sectors, continued to drag down HRC prices.
On July 3, Mysteel assessed the national spot price of Q235B 4.75mm HRC at Yuan 3,315/tonne ($488/t) including the 13% VAT, slipping by Yuan 30/t on week and making for the fifth on-week decline.
The same day, the most-traded HRC contract for October delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at Yuan 3,279/t, lower by Yuan 33/t or 1% from the settlement price one week earlier, the exchange's data showed.
Source:Mysteel Global
