In the January-March period this year, China’s rebar production totaled 42.319 million mt, down 12.3 percent year on year, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In the given period, domestic wire rod production amounted to 31.247 million mt, decreasing by 6.4 percent year on year, while welded pipe output came to 13.116 million mt, down 7.3 percent year on year.
In March alone, China’s production of rebar, wire rod and welded pipe amounted to 15.415 million mt, 11.583 million mt and 5.917 million mt, down 17.4 percent, 6.0 percent and 7.1 percent year on year, respectively.
In March, rebar prices in the Chinese domestic market edged down first as the demand recovery was not as good as market players had expected, while they moved up later in the month as infrastructure projects entered the peak construction season, stimulating the demand for rebar and reducing inventories. Rebar prices reached a peak in March at RMB 3,267/mt ($476/mt) on March 23, with the lowest level during the month seen at RMB 3,210/mt ($468/mt) on March 4-8, according to SteelOrbis’ data.
