As of May 31 this year, overall domestic inventories of the five main finished steel products in 20 cities of China totaled 13.12 million mt, down 0.91 million mt or 6.5 percent compared to May 20, but still up 6.3 million mt or 92.4 percent compared to the beginning of the year.
In particular, as of May 31, domestic inventories of hot rolled coil (HRC), cold rolled coil (CRC) and common medium plate in China amounted to 1.9 million mt, 2.7 million mt and 0.81 million mt, decreasing by 5.1 percent, 1.7 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively, compared to May 20. Stocks of longs products also indicated visible declines. Wire rod and rebar inventories in China totaled 2.45 million mt and 6.56 million mt, down by 13.0 percent and 5.3 percent compared to May 20, respectively.
Due to good consumption of the main finished steel products in the given period, prices of the products moved up. Rising raw material prices also supported prices from the cost side.