China’s HRC inventories up 8.5% in early October; steel output drops

Steel inventories at member mills of the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) and in the spot market both increased in early October, although mills cut crude and finished steel output, according to data released on Wednesday October 14.

October 1-10 output

Crude steel: 2.17 million tonnes per day, down by 0.84%
Finished steel: 2.04 million tpd, down 8.05%
Hot metal: 1.92 million tpd, up 1.08%

October 1-10 inventories

Mill finished steel inventories
Total:
13.59 million tonnes, up by 2 million tonnes (17.22%)

Spot market inventories
Hot-rolled coil: 2.05 million tonnes, up by 8.5%
Cold-rolled coil: 1.19 million tonnes, up by 5.3%
Plate: 1.02 million tonnes, down by 7.4%
Wire rod: 2.05 million tonnes, down by 7.9%
Rebar: 6.33 million tonnes, down by 0.5%
Total (all five major products): 12.64 million tonnes, up by 410,000 tonnes (3.4%).

Cisa’s output data for the preceding 10 days can be found here.

What to read next
China’s lithium prices continued to trend downward amid weak demand and futures weakness over the week to Thursday July 25
Persistently high import volumes of lithium carbonate into China have intensified oversupply in the country's domestic market for the material at a time when demand remains weak, sources told Fastmarkets on Tuesday July 23
Amid a market downturn, suppliers reconsider proposed price increases for pulp in China, revealing the complexities of the import pulp market
Suppliers were not letting-up in their search for price increases for market pulp imports into China, despite Chinese buyers’ escalating pushback, and this has worsened the unusual situation in which pulp is more expensive than finished products in that market
Fastmarkets launched a new price assessment for MB-GER-0006 germanium dioxide, in-whs China, on Friday May 10.
Chinese rare earth magnetic materials prices edged up this week after suppliers stood firm behind higher offer prices, market sources told Fastmarkets