Posted on 30 Aug 2021
Stocks of the five major finished steel products at the 184 Chinese steel mills sampled under Mysteel’s weekly survey reversed down over August 19-25 after the prior week’s rise, mainly thanks to the improvement in demand and the lower output of domestic steel mills.
Inventories of the five major steel products comprising rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and medium plate totalled 6.2 million tonnes as of August 25, down by 166,500 tonnes or 2.6% on week, the survey showed.
The on-week retreat was partly attributed to improved demand from end-users rebuilding their stocks. Over August 19-25, the spot trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 traders Mysteel monitors averaged 202,315 tonnes/day, jumping by 42,530 t/d or 26.6% from the average for the prior week.
Also contributing to the reduction in mill inventories was the slight dip in production during the week. Output of the five major steel products among the 184 surveyed mills over August 19-25 declined for the second week and by another 0.3% on week to 10.12 million tonnes.
China is about to enter its traditional peak season for steel consumption over September-October with the arrival of pleasant weather. However, “domestic steel demand has not fully recovered yet, and for the time being, consumption among end-users remains unstable,” a trader in East China’s Zhejiang province said.
Steel prices in China’s physical market recovered gradually this week with the improvement in demand but the extent of the price rises was limited. As of August 25, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel’s assessment had increased for the third working day to Yuan 5,299/tonne ($818/t) including the 13% VAT, though it was still Yuan 12/t lower from one week before.
Inventories of the five steel items at the commercial warehouses Mysteel monitors in 132 cities continued to empty slowly over August 20-26, down for the fourth week and by another 0.4% on week to 23.1 million tonnes, the survey showed.
Table 1 Five major steel products stocks at mills (Aug 19-25)
|
Product |
Volume ('000 t) |
WoW (%) |
MoM (%) |
YoY (%) |
|
Rebar |
3,332.6 |
-2.2% |
7.6% |
-12.4% |
|
Wire rod |
827.8 |
-7.9% |
-7.7% |
11.8% |
|
HR sheet |
965.0 |
-1.4% |
-3.2% |
-20.4% |
|
CR sheet |
323.4 |
0.6% |
-3.0% |
-0.9% |
|
Medium plate |
770.8 |
-1.3% |
-1.8% |
-15.5% |
|
Total |
6,219.6 |
-2.6% |
1.8% |
-11.1% |
Table 2 Five major steel products stocks at traders (Aug 20-26)
|
Product |
Volume (million t) |
WoW (%) |
MoM (%) |
YoY (%) |
|
Rebar |
11.45 |
-0.4% |
-2.8% |
-7.7% |
|
Wire rod |
3.26 |
2.1% |
-0.3% |
-3.6% |
|
HR sheet |
4.17 |
-2.1% |
0.5% |
22.4% |
|
CR sheet |
1.85 |
-0.4% |
-1.3% |
10.7% |
|
Medium plate |
2.41 |
-1.1% |
-0.5% |
26.5% |
|
Total |
23.13 |
-0.4% |
-1.5% |
1.6% |
Note: Mysteel has started publishing the new set of data regarding traders’ steel inventories since March 19 2020 to better represent the market with bigger sample sizes.
Rebar and wire rod: Sample size is increased to 429 warehouses in 132 Chinese cities from the previous 215 warehouses in 35 cities.
Hot-rolled coil (HRC): Sample size is increased to 194 warehouses in 55 cities from the previous 138 warehouses in 33 cities.
Cold-rolled coil (CRC): Sample size is increased to 182 warehouses in 29 cities from the previous 134 warehouses in 26 cities.
Medium plate: Sample size is increased to 217 warehouses in 65 cities from the previous 132 warehouses in 31 cities.
Source:Mysteel Global
