China: Steel inventories rise by 3% in early-July at key CISA mills

• CISA-affiliated crude steel output falls 3.6% y-o-y
• Finished steel output falls 15.2% from late-June levels

The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) reported that total steel inventories at key CISA-affiliated industries stood at around 16.77 million tonnes (mnt) during early-July (1-10 July 2026), marked an increase of 490,000 tonnes (t) or 3% from 16.28 mnt in late-June.

Moreover, inventory levels rose by 1.7 mnt or 11.3% y-o-y from 15.07 mnt recorded in the same period last year.

However, inventories inched down by 100,000 t or 0.6% m-o-m from 16.87 mnt in early-June.

Production volumes

The average daily crude steel production of CISA-affiliated mills stood at around 2.022 mnt in early-July, down by 0.1% from 2.02 mnt recorded in late-June. Furthermore, marked a drop of 3.6% y-o-y from 2.10 mnt in the same period last year.

Average daily finished steel output stood at around 1.882 mnt in early-July, down by 15.2% from 2.21 mnt in late-June. Furthermore, on a yearly basis, finished steel output declined by 5.3% y-o-y from early-July 2025.

Average daily pig iron output stood at 1.865 mnt in early-July, down by 1.8% from 1.90 mnt in late-June. Furthermore, pig iron production was down by 3.4% y-o-y.