Chinese mills' steel stocks decline further

Inventories of the five major carbon steel products held by the Chinese steel mills sampled in Mysteel's regular survey shrank further during June 13-19, with the total volume down for the fourth straight week, albeit by a tiny 0.3% on week, at 4.26 million tonnes.

The five steel items comprise rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC) and medium plate. During the survey period, inventories of most steel items fell slightly, while the tonnage of medium plate accumulated slightly, the findings showed.

The decrease in total steel inventories held by the mills had slowed during the June 13-19 week, as against the on-week fall of 1.3% over the prior week, mainly due to the recovery in their finished steel output this week with the resumption of some steelmakers and the thinning demand from end-users in summer, Mysteel Global learned.

Over June 12-18, total production of the five steel items among the sampled steelmakers registered 8.69 million tonnes, reversing up 1.1% on week after the continuous fall over the prior two weeks.

Meanwhile, finished steel sales in the physical market remained depressed, as demand from end-users had been dampened by the high temperatures and frequent rainfalls in most regions of the country.

Mysteel's other survey showed that over June 12-18, the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses nationwide under its tracking had fallen below 100,000 tonnes/day to average 98,111 t/d, lower by 4,008 t/d or 3.9% on week.

Amid the lackluster demand, domestic steel prices hovered low this week, with the national average price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a bellwether of domestic steel-market sentiment under Mysteel's assessment, down by Yuan 12/tonne ($1.7/t) on week at Yuan 3,224/t including the 13% VAT as of June 18.

Meanwhile, the national average price of Q235 4.75mm HRC was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 3,233/t including the 13% VAT on Wednesday, lower by Yuan 16/t from one week before.

Total inventories of the five major steel items at warehouses in the 132 Chinese cities Mysteel monitors slipped for the sixth consecutive week to reach 14.82 million tonnes over June 13-19, edging down by 0.9% on week, according to the survey. 

Source:Mysteel Global