Posted on 28 Sep 2026
Inventories of the five major carbon steel products held by the Chinese steel mills sampled in Mysteel's regular survey declined for the seventh consecutive week during the period of September 18-24 to touch an eight-month low of 3.83 million tonnes, slipping by 2.2% from one week before.
The five major steel items comprise rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC) and medium plate. During the survey period, inventories of long steel items declined, offsetting the rise in stocks of HRC and CRC, the findings showed.
Many domestic steel mills slowed production this week given their poor profit margins, leading to a decline in finished steel output and contributing to the fall in total steel inventories held by mills.
During September 17-23, total production of the five major steel products among the sampled mills tracked by Mysteel came in at 7.8 million tonnes, falling by 1.8% on week and marking the lowest since September 2024.
Inventories of the five products stocked at traders' warehouses in the 132 Chinese cities under Mysteel's tracking also declined further during the week of September 18-24, with the total tonnage down for the fourth straight week by 3.9% on week at 17.8 million tonnes.
However, domestic steel prices remained rangebound. Although firm raw material prices lent some cost support to steel prices, demand from end users failed to meet market expectations.
September is usually a peak month for steel consumption in China thanks to improved weather conditions in most regions of the country, and the absence of the autumn demand this year is putting some pressure on the domestic steel market.
On September 23, Mysteel assessed the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar at Yuan 3,324/tonne ($495/t) including the 13% VAT, edging up Yuan 2/t on week, while the average price of Q235 4.75mm HRC nationwide under Mysteel's assessment dipped by Yuan 8/t on week to Yuan 3,324/t including the 13% VAT.
Over September 17-23, the combined daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses nationwide under Mysteel's tracking averaged 91,628 tonnes/day, down by 3,638 t/d from the prior week.
Source:Mysteel Global
