Winter stocking activity has been quiet this year amid the rebounding trend of finished steel prices.
Market analysts have said that traders normally started to build up stocks for winter usage around December 20 in past years, while they have been quite cautious amid the rebounding trend of steel prices this year, with rebar prices already exceeding RMB 4,000/mt ($575/mt). Building up stocks at this price level would be very risky. While the Chinese New Year holiday (January 21-27) is approaching, large-scale stocking activity has not been observed yet.
