Stocks of the five major steel products held by 184 Chinese steelmakers continued to rise for the second week from December 31 to January 6, as consumption among end-users remained low, due to sudden winter freeze, while domestic factories continued to maintain high productivity during the period.

 As of January 6, total stocks of the five major steel products including rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, and medium plate increased by another 3.2% over the course of the week to 5.4 million tonnes.

Over December 31-January 6, China’s total output of the five major steel products and steel producers grew for the second week to 10.52 million tonnes, up by another 0.6% from the prior week.

Finished steel stocks of the five major items at traders’ warehouses in the 132 Chinese cities also moved up further to top 14 million tonnes as of January 7. The on-week growth also expanded to 6.4% against the prior week’s 2.6%, indicating the lacklustre demand from steel end-users.

As of January 6, the Chinese national price of HRB 400 20mm rebar, the leader in the domestic steel market, was assessed at 4,422 Yuan/t (685 USD/t) including the VAT of 13%, higher than 63 Yuan/t for a week, 584 Yuan/t higher than last year.