Posted on 15 May 2023
The 137 Chinese steelmakers tracked by Mysteel nationwide saw their rebar production decline for the fourth successive week over May 4-10, according to the latest survey. The overall rebar output dropped another 1.8% or 49,500 tonnes on week to 2.68 million tonnes, as most steel mills across the country, excluding those in Northeast China, cut their rebar output during the survey week.
These surveyed mills' rebar production was also 13.6% lower than the 3.1 million tonnes result during the corresponding period last year, Mysteel's data found.
Steelmakers further scaled back their rebar output mainly due to thin profit margins and bleak downstream demand during the survey week, with mills in North China's Shanxi, East China's Shandong and Southwest China's Sichuan posting significant slides in rebar production, survey respondents pointed out.
During the survey period, both the rebar rolling capacity utilization and operational rates among these surveyed steelmakers slipped for the fourth week, with the former falling 1.1 percentage points on week to 58.8% and the latter inching down 0.3 percentage point on week to 45.6%.
The wavering market sentiment saw China's rebar prices in the spot market stay largely volatile during the survey week. As of May 11, the country's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar under Mysteel's assessment dwindled by Yuan 33/tonne ($4.8/t) on week to reach Yuan 3,812/t including the 13% VAT.
Over May 5-11, spot sales of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among 237 Chinese trading houses under Mysteel's tracking averaged 172,199 tonnes/day. But market participants fretted that domestic steel demand would weaken in the coming weeks as frequent rainfalls in the southern parts of China may dampen outdoor building activities.
On the other hand, rebar inventories at the 137 surveyed mills reversed down 9.6% or 257,400 tonnes on week to reach 2.4 million tonnes as of May 10, mainly because mills had sped up rebar shipments to the market with many end-users replenishing their stocks after the country's Labour Day holiday, sources said.
Meanwhile, the volume at commercial warehouses in 35 Chinese cities Mysteel follows thinned for the 11th week in a row, down another 5.6% or 401,500 tonnes on week to 6.8 million tonnes as of May 11.
Source:Mysteel Global
