Posted on 31 Aug 2026
China's rebar production declined for a fifth consecutive week over August 20-26, with the tonnage produced by the 137 Chinese steelmakers under Mysteel's tracking registering 1.73 million tonnes, dropping by another 4% or 73,000 tonnes on week, according to Mysteel's latest survey result.
Mysteel attributed the steady drop to the maintenance of rebar rolling mills among some steelmakers, as most mills are still suffering deep losses when selling rebars.
As such, the rebar rolling capacity utilization rate among the surveyed steel firms dropped further by 1.6 percentage points on week to 37.9%, while their average operational rate also eased by 0.7 percentage points on week to 36.7%, the results of another Mysteel survey showed.
In the spot market, firming prices of steelmaking raw materials, especially coking coal and coke, boosted ferrous market sentiment, prompting some end-users to enter the market and replenish stocks at relatively low prices, Mysteel Global noted.
Domestic steelmakers had agreed to two rounds of coke price hikes totaling Yuan 150-165/tonne ($22.3-24.5/t) by August 24 and several independent coke producers tabled demands for another Yuan 100-110/t increase on August 28, reinforcing bullish expectations in the immediate outlook, according to market sources.
Consequently, over August 21-27 the combined tonnage of rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil traded among the 237 trading houses nationwide under Mysteel's tracking averaged 95,240 tonnes/day, rising by 2.6% or 2,453 t/d on week.
Traders buying more cargoes from steelmakers lowered the mills' stocks and lifted those being nursed by traders, Mysteel Global noted.
As of August 28, rebar stocks held by the 137 sampled steel mills under Mysteel's coverage totaled 1.63 million tonnes, down by 8.3% or 148,200 tonnes on week. On the other hand, rebars sitting in traders' warehouses in 35 Chinese cities Mysteel monitors climbed by 1.3% or 66,200 tonnes on week to 5.11 million tonnes as of the same day.
The upbeat market mood also underpinned domestic rebar prices, with the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar amounting to Yuan 3,282/t on August 27, up by Yuan 54/t on week, according to Mysteel's assessment.
Source:Mysteel Global
