As of September 30, overall domestic inventories of the five main finished steel products in 20 major cities in China totaled 12.23 million mt, down by 1.5 percent or 190,000 mt compared to September 20, according to the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).
The decline happened owing to lower rebar stocks ahead of the holidays in early October. Rebar inventores dropped by 2.2 percent or 140,000 mt to 6.36 million mt in China in late September, while wire rod stocks also declined, falling by 2.6 percent to 1.9 million mt. Among major flat steel products, only common medium plate stocks were slightly lower - down one percent to 0.95 million mt, while domestic inventories of hot rolled coil (HRC) and cold rolled coil (CRC) were 1.88 million mt and 1.13 million, up by one percent and stable respectively, compared to September 20.
The demand situation in the longs steel market has been slightly better than in the flat steel market.