In the January-June period this year, China’s rebar and wire rod outputs amounted to 123.212 million mt and 76.191 million mt, up 2.3 percent and up 1.0 percent year on year, respectively, compared to a year-on-year rise of 1.3 percent and a year-on-year drop of 1.5 percent recorded in the first five months of the year, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics.
However, in June alone, China’s rebar production totaled 24.465 million mt, up 6.3 percent year on year, 2.8 percentage points slower than the rise recorded in May. Wire rod production amounted to 14.44 million mt in June, up 4.5 percent year on year, 0.7 percentage points faster than the increase in May.
Output of wire rod rose more rapidly in June, while good demand from downstream users contributed to the decline in wire rod inventories. According to the data issued by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), as of June 30, wire rod inventory in China amounted to 2.1 million mt, down 2.2 percent from June 20, while rebar inventory totaled 6.28 million mt as of June 30, up 2.2 percent from June 20.