Posted on 07 Jul 2023
Total inventories of five major finished steel products held by Chinese traders increased for a second successive week over June 30-July 6, mainly as actual demand was crimped by the continuing hot and rainy weather throughout many parts of the country, Mysteel's latest survey has found.
The stocks of rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil and medium plate among traders in the 132 Chinese cities Mysteel canvasses rose by 2.9% or 508,200 tonnes on week to 18.2 million tonnes as of Thursday, a one-month high, the survey results showed.
Among the five, stocks of rebar increased the most again, rising by 261,300 tonnes on week to 8.1 million tonnes, contributing to some 44.7% of the total of traders' stocks. Second to rebar was HRC, whose stocks mounted by 154,900 tonnes during the same period to 3.9 million tonnes, Mysteel's data showed.
Domestic steel demand has been weakening as outdoor work on construction sites is being impacted by high temperatures and intense rainfalls, Mysteel Global noted.
China's National Meteorological Centre on Thursday renewed its 'orange' alert for high temperatures, the Centre's second highest, as heatwaves sweep multiple regions of the country. Some areas of North China's Beijing and Hebei and Central China's Henan may see temperatures exceed 40 degrees Celsius during daylight hours, the observatory predicted.
The daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 trading houses Mysteel monitors averaged just 150,412 t/d over July 3-5, retreating by some 7.7% or 12,544 tonnes/day from the same period a week earlier.
As of July 6, steel inventories held by traders in Mysteel's former smaller sample across just 35 cities also gained for the second week, climbing by 2.4% or 267,300 tonnes on week to 11.5 million tonnes.
Source:Mysteel Global
