Posted on 10 Aug 2026
Daily crude steel output among the member mills of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) logged a clear decline during July 21-31, with the tonnage slipping by 7.5% or 151,000 tonnes/day from the mid-July period to average 1.86 million t/d, according to the latest release from the association on August 7.
The association attributed the "relatively large changes" in the latest crude steel output mainly to maintenance stoppages at some large steelmakers as well as the data adjustments regarding crude steel production, according to the release.
The average production volume was also 5.9% lower than with the prior-year level, the CISA survey results indicated.
Based on the same dataset, the association estimated that daily crude steel output among both the member mills and non-member mills averaged 2.52 million t/d in late July, dropping by the same 7.5% from the middle ten days of last month.
Among the six regions that CISA regularly checks, member mills in North China – the hub of China's steel sector – posted the largest decline in crude steel output in late July. The primary reason for the production slide was the mandated production curbs on blast furnaces and sintering machines in Tangshan in North China's Hebei province for better atmospheric conditions during July 25-29, as Mysteel Global has reported.
Member mills in North China produced an average of 576,000 t/d of crude steel over the last 11 days of July, presenting a substantial drop of 14.3% or 97,000 t/d from the mid-July period, the CISA release showed.
On the other hand, daily output of finished steel among CISA member mills averaged 1.98 million t/d over the late-July period, rising by 2.7% or 33,000 t/d from the middle ten days of last month, the same release showed.
CISA attributed this modest rise primarily to bulk month-end finished steel warehousing by several member mills. When this factor is excluded, the association's figures indicate that daily finished steel output was still 1.1% higher than the mid-July level.
Despite higher finished steel output, steady cargo delivery from member mills to traders and end-users still led mills' finished steel inventory to drift lower late last month, with the tonnage thinning by a marked 10.2% or 1.85 million tonnes from July 20 to sit at 16.28 million tonnes as of July 31, another CISA release published on Friday revealed.
This, together with subdued downstream demand in the ongoing summer lull, has also resulted in further accumulation in retail finished steel inventories, with the volume piling in commercial warehouses across the 21 Chinese cities the association regularly tracks edging up by 1.9% or 180,000 tonnes from July 20 to 9.8 million tonnes as of July 31, another CISA release published on Monday showed.
Source:Mysteel Global
