As of August 20 this year, overall domestic inventories of the five main finished steel products in 20 major cities in China totaled 12.18 million mt, down 0.23 million mt or 1.9 percent compared to August 10, but down 8.03 million mt or 39.7 percent compared to the highest level this year recorded on March 10.
In particular, as of August 20, domestic inventories of hot rolled coil (HRC), cold rolled coil (CRC) and common medium plate amounted to 1.77 million mt, 1.15 million mt and 0.83 million mt, remaining stable, decreasing by 0.9 percent and down 1.2 percent, compared to August 10. Moreover, wire rod and rebar stocks in China declined to 2.04 million mt and 6.39 million mt, down 1.4 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively, compared to August 10.
Inventories of steel mostly declined in the given period, exerting a positive impact on steel prices, which also gained solid support from surging iron ore prices.