According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, on May 25 inventory of five key finished steel products, namely, rebar, wire rod, hot rolled coil, cold rolled coil and plate, in 26 major markets in China totaled 15.792 million mt, decreasing by 353,000 mt week on week and marking the 14th consecutive week of declining movement. This is the first time the inventory volume for the products in question has dropped below 16 million mt since February this year. Nevertheless, the inventory indicated an increase of 1.18 million mt year on year.
Meanwhile, the aggregate inventory volume of rebar and wire rod has fallen below 9 million mt for the first time since February this year, but is 1.652 million mt higher on year-on-year basis.
Rebar inventory amounted to 6.907 million mt, 219,000 mt less than the previous week but up 1.28 million mt year on year.