Posted on 01 Nov 2021
Stocks of the five major finished steel products at the 184 Chinese steel mills sampled under Mysteel's survey reversed up over October 21-27 after the decrease witnessed in the prior two weeks, survey data show. Respondents cited lacklustre demand from end-users and the recovery in steel output.
Total inventories of the five major steel products comprising rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and medium plate came in at 5.35 million tonnes as of October 27, up 322,800 tonnes or 6.4% from one week before, the survey found.
Among the total, stocks of all five items increased to varying degrees during the survey period, though the volume of wire rod and rebar posted the sharpest rise in percentage terms, jumping by 13.8% and 7.3% respectively on week, indicating the tepid demand from end-users.
Mysteel's other survey among 237 traders across China showed that over October 21-27, the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil averaged 158,984 tonnes/day, well below the threshold of 200,000 t/d for the traditional peak season for steel consumption in October. The average was lower by another 22,561 t/d or 12.4% on week.
"Steel users are not actively procuring at the moment as steel prices have been falling due to the negative sentiment in the domestic market," a market source in Shanghai said.
For example, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar slipped for the thirteenth consecutive working day to Yuan 5,435/tonne ($849/t) including the 13% VAT as of October 27, dropping by Yuan 357/t on week and hitting the lowest since September 9, according to Mysteel's assessment.
Output of the five major steel products among the 184 surveyed mills resumed rising over October 21-27, gaining 4.9% on week to reach 9.22 million tonnes after the short-lived decline over the prior week. This also contributed to the accumulation of inventories at mills' yards, Mysteel Global noted.
Stocks of the five steel items at the commercial warehouses Mysteel monitors in 132 cities continued to empty for the third week to reach 18.59 million tonnes over October 22-28, down another 3.7% on week, the survey showed.
Table 1 Five major steel products stocks at mills (Oct 21-27)
|
Product |
Volume ('000 t) |
WoW (%) |
MoM (%) |
YoY (%) |
|
Rebar |
2,603.9 |
7.3% |
7.7% |
-15.1% |
|
Wire rod |
835.3 |
13.8% |
18.9% |
21.3% |
|
HR sheet |
888.8 |
2.5% |
4.4% |
-16.2% |
|
CR sheet |
308.0 |
3.5% |
5.1% |
-8.6% |
|
Medium plate |
717.6 |
1.7% |
-0.3% |
-20.0% |
|
Total |
5,353.6 |
6.4% |
7.4% |
-11.5% |
Table 2 Five major steel products stocks at traders (Oct 22-28)
|
Product |
Volume (million t) |
WoW (%) |
MoM (%) |
YoY (%) |
|
Rebar |
8.19 |
-5.4% |
-13.1% |
-14.9% |
|
Wire rod |
2.74 |
-1.5% |
-7.2% |
10.8% |
|
HR sheet |
3.64 |
-4.4% |
-8.5% |
-1.7% |
|
CR sheet |
1.93 |
-0.4% |
5.6% |
15.3% |
|
Medium plate |
2.09 |
-1.6% |
-2.3% |
3.3% |
|
Total |
18.59 |
-3.7% |
-8.5% |
-4.7% |
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
