Posted on 25 Mar 2025
Production of hot-rolled coils (HRC) among the 37 Chinese flat steel producers Mysteel regularly monitors reached 3.24 million tonnes over March 13-19, up by another 56,800 tonnes or 1.8% on week, the results of Mysteel's production survey show.
The hot-rolling capacity utilization rate among the sampled mills also increased again by 1.45 percentage points to average 82.86% during the same period, the results indicated.
Some steel mills in North China resumed their hot strip mill operations during the survey week, leading to the on-week rise in HRC output, respondents noted.
Although the spring month of March is usually a strong one for steel consumption in China, the month is nearly over and yet the recovery in steel demand has been rather slow, industry sources noted, causing sentiment among market participants to grow cautious. Most hot coil purchases were reached at lower prices, they remarked.
As of March 21, China's national price of Q235 4.75mm HRC under Mysteel's assessment had eased by 1.1% on week to Yuan 3,410/tonne ($470/t) including the VAT.
On the same day, the Shanghai Futures Exchange's most-traded HRC futures contract for May delivery had dropped by 2.7% on week to close the daytime trading session at Yuan 3,351/t.
By March 20, HRC inventories held by the 37 surveyed mills had mounted by 1.8% on week to 858,500 tonnes.
On the other hand, HRC stocks held by traders at commercial warehouses in the 33 Chinese cities that Mysteel monitors nationwide had slipped by 2.4% on week to 3.24 million tonnes by March 20.
Source:Mysteel Global
