As of August 22 this year, overall domestic inventories of the five main finished steel products in China totaled 14.02 million mt, up 1.31 million mt or 10.3 percent month on month, 6.0 percentage points higher than the month-on-month increase rate recorded as of July 27, as announced by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).
In particular, as of August 22, domestic inventories of hot rolled coil (HRC), wire rod and rebar amounted to 1.89 million mt, 3.08 million mt and 6.03 million mt, respectively increasing by 15.5 percent, 7.3 percent and 17.2 percent month on month, up 8.7 percentage points, 0.5 percentage points and 12.8 percentage points respectively compared to the month-on-month increase rates recorded in the previous month, while inventories of cold rolled coil (CRC) and common medium plate amounted to 2.00 million mt and 1.01 million mt, down 0.6 percent and 3.0 percent month on month, respectively.
The bigger increases seen in inventory levels of HRC and rebar in August have exerted a negative impact on HRC and rebar prices, resulting in a decline in prices of these products in the given month.
