Posted on 20 Jul 2026
Less than 40% of Chinese blast-furnace steel mills could make a profit on finished steel sales recently, as their production costs have stayed high, while domestic finished steel prices have hovered low amid the thin demand from end users in summer, Mysteel Global learned.
On July 16, among the 247 BF mills under Mysteel's regular tracking, only about 37.2% reported they could earn a margin on finished steel sales, slipping by 18.6 percentage points compared with one month earlier, according to Mysteel's latest survey.
China's coking coal prices increased significantly over the past one month, and the prices of imported iron ore also hovered at high levels, lifting the production costs of domestic integrated steel mills.
On July 16, Mysteel assessed the national composite coke price at Yuan 1,839.2/tonne ($271/t) including the 13% VAT, rising by Yuan 113.9/t from one month earlier.
Over July 10-16, the cost of making hot metal among the 114 of these mills under Mysteel's regular survey averaged Yuan 2,375/t excluding the 13% VAT, higher by Yuan 16/t on month.
However, China's finished steel prices have lost ground amid the shrinking demand from end users, as the prolonged heatwaves and frequent heavy rains in most regions of the country hampered outdoor construction activities.
Mysteel's assessment showed that as of July 16, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar was at Yuan 3,291/t including the 13% VAT with an on-month fall of Yuan 93/t, while the average price of Q235 4.75mm HRC nationwide had dropped by Yuan 70/t on month to Yuan 3,331/t including the 13% VAT.
Poor profitability prompted more domestic steelmakers to slow production to ease the market pressure from supply side. Over July 9-15, total production of the five major steel products comprising rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and medium plate among Chinese steel mills sampled in Mysteel's regular survey touched a four-month low of 8.26 million tonnes, down by 4.9% on month.
Source:Mysteel Global
