As of January 31 this year, overall domestic inventories of the five main finished steel products in 20 cities of China totaled 9.73 million mt, up 1.38 million mt or 16.5 percent compared to January 20.
In particular, as of January 31, domestic inventories of hot rolled coil (HRC), cold rolled coil (CRC) and common medium plate amounted to 1.41 million mt, 1.02 million mt and 1.01 million mt, up 1.4 percent, 1.0 percent and 6.3 percent respectively compared to January 20. Meanwhile, stocks of wire rod and rebar posted double-digit growth of 26.3 percent 25.6 percent, respectively, to 1.73 million mt and 4.56 million mt.
The approach of the Chinese New Year holiday resulted in increases in inventories amid slacker demand from downstream users.