Posted on 24 Dec 2021
Over December 17-23, total stocks of the five major finished steel products at commercial warehouses in the 132 Chinese cities under Mysteel's tracking reached a new low since January 8, with the volume falling by 495,500 tonnes or 3.5% on week to 13.6 million tonnes. The dealers' inventories have now fallen for eleven straight weeks.
The stocks of five major finished steel products comprising rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and medium plate all posted on-week falls during the latest survey period.
Among the total, rebar stocks saw the steepest drop of 276,000 tonnes to settle at 5.2 million tonnes, or a new low since Mysteel started to compile the data on March 13 2020. Those of wire rods also eased to a 11.5-month low of 2 million tonnes, down by 88,400 tonnes on week.
During the survey period, most traders opted to sell off stocks to minimize the risks, reflecting the bearish sentiment prevailing in the steel market, a Shanghai-based source shared.
Meanwhile, Mysteel's survey among the 184 Chinese steel mills usually sampled showed that their total output of the five steel items over December 16-22 reversed down after two weeks of rises, falling by 2.6% or 234,100 tonnes on week to 8.85 million tonnes.
During the survey week, Chinese steel prices remained steady, with the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel's assessment edging up by just Yuan 10/tonne ($1.6/t) on week to Yuan 4,850/t including the 13% VAT.
As of December 23, inventories of these five steel products under Mysteel's smaller-scale survey among trading houses in the 35 Chinese cities also fall for the eleventh week, with the volume down 3.4% or 313,300 tonnes on week to an 11.5-month low of 8.8 million tonnes.
Source:Mysteel Global
