As of the end of August this year, inventory of the main finished steel products (plate, hot rolled coil (HRC), cold rolled coil (CRC), rebar and wire rod) in 26 major steel markets in China totaled 14.333 million mt, down 231,000 mt as compared to the previous week and indicating a decline for the sixth consecutive week, according to the figures released by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA). Meanwhile, a year-on-year increase of 426,000 mt was registered in the inventory of the products in question, with the aggregate inventory of rebar and wire rod 735,000 mt higher compared to the same period last year.
Specifically, at the end of August inventory of rebar indicated a decrease of 125,000 mt week on week to 5.905 million mt, but was still up 407,000 mt on year-on-year basis. In the given period, wire rod inventory indicated a week-on-week decrease of 82,000 mt. Inventories of hot rolled coil and cold rolled coil witnessed respective decreases of 8,000 mt and 17,000 mt week on week, while steel plate saw just a slight increase of 2,000 mt compared to the previous week.
The consecutive decreases in finished steel inventory in China reflect the impact of overhauls and production cuts carried out by Chinese steelmakers, and finished steel inventory in China is expected to witness a further decline in the coming days, the CISA stated.