Posted on 28 Aug 2023
Rebar output among the 137 Chinese steel mills nationwide under Mysteel's tracking remained largely stable over August 17-23, nudging lower by just 0.1% or 3,500 tonnes on week to reach 2.63 million tonnes. This made for the fifth straight weekly decline, according to Mysteel's weekly survey.
Also, compared with the same period last year, rebar output during the survey week was lower by 2.2%, the results showed.
Steelmakers in East China's Jiangsu and Shandong, Northwest China's Ningxia and North China's Hebei undertook on-week reductions in rebar output during the survey week, while those based in Central China's Hubei, Northwest China's Shaanxi and Southwest China's Sichuan lifted rebar output, the data show.
During the survey period, rebar rolling capacity utilization among producers slipped for the fifth week, albeit by a tiny 0.1 percentage point on week to 57.8%, while the operational rate among the rolling mills stayed unchanged on week at 45.6%, Mysteel's data indicated.
"Many blast-furnace makers had switched from producing rebar to wire rod this week, resulting in the dip in rebar output and the increase in that of wire rod," a market source said.
Helped by a better market outlook, Chinese rebar prices in the spot market showed signs of firming this week, with the country's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar for example, rebounding by Yuan 21/tonne ($2.9/t) on week to Yuan 3,787/t including the 13% VAT as of August 24, according to Mysteel's assessment. The brighter market mood reflected hopes for a pick-up in steel demand over the coming September-October, traditionally robust months for steel consumption.
As of August 23, rebar inventories at the 137 domestic steel mills had thinned for the second week and at a faster pace, falling by 3.6% or 73,500 tonnes on week to 1.97 million tonnes.
Meanwhile, the tonnage at the commercial warehouses in the 35 Chinese cities Mysteel monitors also slid for the second week, declining by 2.1% or 127,100 tonnes on week to 5.89 million tonnes as of August 24.
Source:Mysteel Global
