Posted on 28 Feb 2022
Inventories of the five major carbon steel products comprising rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and medium plate at the 184 Chinese steel mills under Mysteel's survey resumed climbing during February 17-23 after the short-lived retreat during the prior week, as mills' production recovered significantly during that period while demand remained lackluster.
As of February 23, total tonnage of the five major items held by the surveyed mills reached 6.38 million tonnes, up 1.4% from the previous week, the survey showed.
Many blast-furnace mills in northern China resumed production after the Winter Olympic Games held in and around Beijing ended on February 20. Meanwhile, more electric-arc-furnace steel mills resumed operations after the Chinese Lantern Festival on February 15, contributing to the growth in finished steel output, especially for long steel, Mysteel Global noted.
Over February 17-23, total production of the five major steel products among the sampled steel mills increased at a faster pace to reach 9.25 million tonnes, up 4.4% on week, as against the on-week rise of 1.8% over the prior week. Among the total, production of rebars posted the sharpest rise, increasing by 175,700 tonnes on week, according to the survey.
"China's finished steel output may recover further in the coming term, but the growth will be limited due to the upcoming Winter Paralympic Games (also to be held in and around Beijing over March 4-13)," a market source in Shanghai said.
Demand from end-users was lower than market expectations, as some end-users have not yet restarted work. At the same time, the retreat in steel prices dampened the buying interest of end-users, and the resurgence of COVID-19 in many regions also affected transportation to some extent, Mysteel Global learned.
As of February 23, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, for example, was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 4,930/tonne ($780/t) including the 13% VAT, lower by Yuan 28/t from one week earlier.
Inventories of these five steel products at the commercial warehouses in the 132 Chinese cities under Mysteel's survey increased for the eighth successive week to 27.43 million tonnes over February 18-24, but the on-week rise had slowed to 4.6% from the previous 8.7%, according to the survey.
Table 1 Five major steel products stocks at mills (Feb 17-23)
|
Product |
Volume ('000 t) |
WoW (%) |
MoM (%) |
YoY (%) |
|
Rebar |
3,207.1 |
1.5% |
67.8% |
-37.7% |
|
Wire rod |
1,107.3 |
7.2% |
82.6% |
-38.1% |
|
HR sheet |
966.5 |
0.3% |
18.6% |
-25.8% |
|
CR sheet |
388.6 |
-5.1% |
7.8% |
-10.4% |
|
Medium plate |
712.1 |
-2.4% |
6.9% |
-33.5% |
|
Total |
6,381.6 |
1.4% |
46.4% |
-34.5% |
Table 2 Five major steel products stocks at traders (Feb 18-24)
|
Product |
Volume (million t) |
WoW (%) |
MoM (%) |
YoY (%) |
|
Rebar |
13.63 |
7.5% |
79.4% |
-21.5% |
|
Wire rod |
5.09 |
5.6% |
76.1% |
-20.0% |
|
HR sheet |
4.00 |
-1.0% |
29.1% |
-11.0% |
|
CR sheet |
2.21 |
1.8% |
17.1% |
21.3% |
|
Medium plate |
2.51 |
-0.1% |
29.7% |
-9.7% |
|
Total |
27.44 |
4.6% |
57.6% |
-16.4% |
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
