Posted on 18 Dec 2023
Rebar production among the 137 Chinese steelmakers tracked by Mysteel declined over December 7-13 after staying largely unchanged during the prior week, slipping by 1.6% or 42,600 tonnes on week to reach 2.57 million tonnes in total, according to Mysteel's weekly survey.
Survey respondents pointed out that steel mills in Northwest and Central China posted significant on-week falls in their rebar output, as they observed more maintenance stoppages on rolling lines or suspended operations during the survey week.
Rebar output among the sampled mills over the survey period was also 9.9% lower than during the same period a year earlier, according to Mysteel's data.
During the period, both rebar rolling capacity utilization and the operational rates among these surveyed producers decreased, with the former dipping by 0.9 percentage point on week to 56.3%, and the latter nudging down 0.3 percentage point on week to 42.3%, Mysteel's data found.
Wavering market sentiment saw China's rebar prices in the spot market move up initially last week and then lose ground. As of December 14, the country's national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, for example, was lower by Yuan 3/tonne ($0.4/t) on week at Yuan 4,075/t including the 13% VAT, according to Mysteel's assessment.
Meanwhile, spot sales of construction steel including rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 Chinese steel trading houses under Mysteel's tracking averaged 134,068 tonnes/day over December 8-14, falling by 11.2% from the previous week's average. The culprit seemed to be the worsening weather, with plunging temperatures and blizzards dampening steel consumption from end-users in most parts of the country.
On the other hand, tepid spot trading saw rebar inventories at the 137 sampled mills swell for the third week by another 2.6% or 45,900 tonnes on week to 1.78 million tonnes as of December 13, and the tonnage held by traders in 35 Chinese cities Mysteel tracks remained largely stable on week, up by a tiny 0.1% or 4,000 tonnes on week to 3.58 million tonnes as of December 14.
Source:Mysteel Global
