In the January-March period this year, China’s rebar production totaled 50.015 million mt, down 9.5 percent year on year, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In the given year, domestic wire rod production amounted to 32.441 million mt, declining by 4.9 percent year on year.
In the same period, China’s welded pipe output came to 11.925 million mt, down 5.6 percent year on year.
In March alone, China’s rebar, wire rod and welded pipe outputs amounted to 17.787 million mt, 11.36 million mt and 5.673 million mt, down 22.5 percent, 12.0 percent and 3.5 percent year on year, respectively.
In March, rebar prices declined as demand was not as good as market players had expected. Rebar prices reached a peak in March at RMB 3,907/mt on March 1-3, while they fell to their lowest level during the month at RMB 3,550/mt on March 31, according to SteelOrbis’ data. Following the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday, demand for rebar improved gradually, causing prices to move up.