China's rebar output rises further to 6-month high

Over March 10-16, rebar production among the 137 Chinese steel producers Mysteel tracks hit a six-month high after trending upwards for the fifth straight week, gaining another 43,100 tonnes or 1.5% on week to reach 3.01 million tonnes in total. Survey respondents pointed out that some steel mills had resumed operations after the close of the Winter Paralympic Games and the ”Two Sessions” political meetings during the week.

During the survey period, both rebar rolling capacity utilization and operational rates among the 137 sampled mills increased for the fifth consecutive week too, with the former rising by 0.9 percentage point on week to about 66%, and the latter up 0.7 percentage point on week to 55.7%, Mysteel’s survey showed.

As of March 18, China’s national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar, under Mysteel’s assessment, gained by Yuan 3/tonne ($0.6/t) on week to Yuan 4,955/t including the 13% VAT, while the daily trading volume of construction steel comprising rebar, wire rod and bar-in-coil among the 237 steel traders Mysteel monitors shed 14,265 tonnes/day or 8% on week to average 164,136 t/d over March 14-18.

The decline in spot sales occurred mainly because work on construction sites in many regions across the country was impacted by the coronavirus’s resurgence, according to market watchers.

In tandem with the higher output, rebar inventories at the 137 surveyed mills reversed up by 154,700 tonnes or 5.3% on week to 3.1 million tonnes as of March 16, while the tonnage at the commercial warehouses in the 35 cities Mysteel checks dipped for the second week, down 228,500 tonnes or 2.3% to 9.7 million tonnes as of March 17.

Written by Rong Zhang, zhangronga@mysteel.com

Edited by Zhenqi Yang, yangzhenqi@mysteel.com

Table 1: Rebar Production Survey by Region by Mar 16