In 2019, China's rebar production amounted to 249.716 million mt, up 17.8 percent year on year, supported by stronger demand from the construction industry. Nevertheless, this increase rate was 0.7 percentage points lower than that recorded in the January-November period, as announced by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In December last year, China’s rebar production amounted to 21.86 million mt, down 2.45 percent month on month, while rising by 13.1 percent year on year, mainly due to holidays in the given month, which dragged down rebar output.
The trend was similar in the wire rod market. China’s wire rod production amounted to 13.353 million mt in December, down 1.24 percent month on month, while rising by 9.5 percent year on year. In 2019, China's wire rod production totaled 156.82 million mt, up 8.9 percent year on year.
It is expected that longs steel output in China will keep rising in 2020 amid a further gradual improvement in the construction industry, with total consumption forecast to add two percent.