Posted on 17 May 2024
Inventories of the five major carbon steel products held by the Chinese steel mills under Mysteel's regular survey continued to thin during May 10-16, with the total volume down by another 3.2% on week at 4.8 million tonnes.
The five major steel products comprise rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil and medium plate. During the survey period, stocks of rebar, wire rod and HRC declined by varying degrees, while those of the other two major items accumulated to some extent.
Production among the domestic mills continued to rise this week, as some steelmakers resumed operations or ramped up production, given the healthy profit margins available on their sales of finished steel now.
Over May 9-15, total output of the five major steel items among the steelmakers under Mysteel's tracking came in at 8.9 million tonnes, up for the fifth consecutive week by another 0.4% from the prior week.
However, China's finished steel prices lost further ground this week, as transactions in the physical market remained depressed, Mysteel Global noted. Many end-users were still just preferring to purchase some products to fulfil their immediate needs rather than build up stocks.
As of May 15, the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, a pointer to domestic steel-market sentiment, was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 3,802/tonne ($527/t) including the 13% VAT, slipping by Yuan 50/t from one week before.
As for the derivative market, the most-traded rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for delivery in October closed at Yuan 3,621/t on Wednesday, lower by Yuan 81/t from the settlement price on May 8.
Inventories of the five major steel products at traders' warehouses in the 132 cities nationwide under Mysteel's regular survey registered 21.71 million tonnes over May 10-16, down for the second week by a sharper of 3.5% on week as against the on-week fall of 2.3% during the previous week, according to the survey.
Source:Mysteel Global
