In the January-June period this year, China’s rebar production totaled 117.69 million mt, down 14.1 percent year on year, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In the first six months, wire rod production amounted to 71.382 million mt in the given period, down 13.8 percent year on year.
In June alone, China’s rebar and wire rod production amounted to 20.061 million mt and 13.054 million mt, down 19.3 percent and 7.8 percent, year on year, respectively.
Rebar prices indicated continuous decreases in June amid slack demand from downstream users during the hot summer weather, with the highest level of RMB 4,853/mt being seen on June 6 and the lowest level of RMB 4,260/mt seen on June 22, according to SteelOrbis’ data. However, this downtrend did not see changes in July, which is also part of the traditional offseason for the steel industry. Market players think July and August may be the toughest period for steel enterprises this year.