China's HR supply exceeds consumption, CR balanced

China’s HR supply exceeds consumption, CR balanced

Unlike its hot rolled sheet market, which faced a surplus during the first seven months of the year as production and imports overshot demand, China's cold rolled sheet market managed to balance supply with demand. China's hot rolled sheet consumption increased 0.9% to 6.4 million tons through the first seven months of the year. Domestic production in the same period increased 21 percent year on year to 5.71 million tons. Imports, on the other hand, slid 25.9 percent to 1.74 million tons. Adding imports to domestic production, the available amount of hot rolled steel reached 7.45 million tons. This indicates a sizeable market surplus of 1.05 million tons. On the cold rolled side, China's consumption increased 1.88% year on year to 9.89 million tons through June. Domestic production increased 21% year on year to 5.86 million tons and the imports increased 14.5 percent to 4.09 million tons. Adding imports to production, the available amount of cold rolled steel reached 9.95 million tons. Thus, cold rolled consumption and supply are essentially in balance, with a slight surplus of 60'000 tons.