n February 10 this year, overall domestic inventories of the five main finished steel products in 20 major cities in China totaled 12.36 million mt, up 2.73 million mt or 28.3 percent compared to January 31, as announced by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA). This increase had been expected due to the week-long holiday, while long steel product inventories indicated the highest increase.
In particular, as of February 10, domestic inventories of hot rolled coil (HRC), cold rolled coil (CRC), common medium plate, wire rod and rebar amounted to 1.95 million mt, 1.25 million mt, 1.19 million mt, 2.08 million mt and 5.89 million mt, up 14 percent, 10.6 percent, 13.3 percent, 28.4 percent and 43.0 percent, respectively, compared to January 31.
