Posted on 20 Oct 2026
China's total crude steel output during the first three quarters of this year posted an on-year fall of 2.9% to reach 724.77 million tonnes, according to the latest release from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday morning.
For September alone, China produced 73.59 million tonnes of crude steel, up by a tiny 0.1% on year, the NBS statistics showed. The country's daily crude steel output for September averaged 2.45 million tonnes/day, higher by 1.9% from the prior month's average, Mysteel Global calculated based on NBS data.
Some Chinese steel mills resumed production in September, a traditional peak month for steel consumption in China with improved weather conditions in most regions of the country, leading to a recovery in crude steel output.
However, the increase was minor, mainly capped by the poor profitability of domestic steelmakers, especially among blast furnace (BF) steel mills, Mysteel Global noted. By the end of September, only about 6.93% among the 247 BF mills under Mysteel's regular tracking could earn profits on finished steel sales, slumping by 25.54 percentage points from one month earlier.
In parallel, although steel demand from domestic end-users recovered in September, it failed to meet market expectations for a peak month, prompting some steel mills to scale back output later last month to ease market pressure from the supply side.
The daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses nationwide monitored by Mysteel averaged 93,575 t/d in September, up by 3.2% on month, but the volume was 8.7% lower than the same period of last year.
China's finished steel prices generally lost ground last month. As of September 30, Mysteel assessed the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar at Yuan 3,330/tonne ($498/t) including the 13% VAT, falling by Yuan 20/t from the end of August. During the same period, the national average price of Q235 4.75mm HRC under Mysteel's assessment also dropped by Yuan 80/t on month to Yuan 3,307/t including the 13% VAT.
In September, China's finished steel production declined by 3.8% on year to 118.17 million tonnes, and total output for the first nine months registered 1.07 billion tonnes, lower by 2% on year, according to the NBS statistics.
Source:Mysteel Global
