In late February (February 21-28) this year, overall domestic inventories of the five main finished steel products in 20 major cities in China totaled 16.95 million mt, up 2.16 million mt or 14.6 percent compared to mid-February (February 11-20).
In particular, as of February 28, domestic inventories of hot rolled coil (HRC) amounted to 2.0 million mt, up 19.8 percent from February 20. This was the highest increase among the main steel products. Inventories of cold rolled coil (CRC) and common medium plate both rose by 1.6 percent in the given period, increasing to 1.25 million mt and 1.30 million mt respectively. Wire rod and rebar stocks totaled 3.2 million mt and 9.2 million mt, 14.3 percent and 17.8 percent higher compared to February 20, respectively.
