Steel prices decline, production costs slide down, inventories rise and trading volume shrinks (steel mill data)
I. Domestic Steel Prices Continue to Fall This Week with Widespread Cost Declines
1. Domestic steel market prices keep sliding this week
Domestic steel market prices maintained a downward trend during the week of July 24 – July 30.
Among major steel products:
- Average price of construction steel fell by RMB 41 per tonne to RMB 3,134/tonne;
- Average price of hot rolled coil (HRC) dropped by RMB 23 per tonne to RMB 3,295/tonne;
- Average price of cold rolled coil (CRC) slipped by RMB 16 per tonne to RMB 3,797/tonne;
- Average price of medium and heavy plate lost RMB 8 per tonne to RMB 3,513/tonne.
2. Production costs of domestic rebar and hot rolled coils decline across the board
Based on the cost model of steel mills in typical regions compiled by Steelhome, as of July 30:
Rebar production costs for long-process mills in Tangshan, long-process mills along the Yangtze River in Jiangsu, and electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mills in Jiangsu stood at RMB 3,208/tonne, RMB 3,215/tonne and RMB 3,374/tonne respectively, down RMB 41, RMB 56 and RMB 1 per tonne compared with last Thursday (July 23).
As of July 30, hot rolled coil production costs for steel mills in Tangshan and along the Yangtze River in Jiangsu reached RMB 3,310/tonne and RMB 3,320/tonne, decreasing RMB 42 and RMB 58 per tonne versus July 23 last week.
II. Total Steel Inventories and Port Iron Ore Stocks Both Rise
1. Market and mill steel inventories both climb
Total inventories of five major steel products at domestic markets and steel mills hit 21.88 million tonnes this week, an increase of 300,000 tonnes week-on-week (down 110,000 tonnes last week).
Breakdown:
- Mill inventories: 8.45 million tonnes, up 210,000 tonnes week-on-week (down 110,000 tonnes last week);
- Market inventories: 13.43 million tonnes, up 90,000 tonnes week-on-week (flat week-on-week last week).
By product category:
- Construction steel inventories: 11.76 million tonnes, rising 300,000 tonnes week-on-week (down 130,000 tonnes last week);
- Plate inventories: 10.11 million tonnes, edging up 10,000 tonnes week-on-week (up 20,000 tonnes last week).
表格
| Product | Inventory Category | This Week (10,000 tonnes) | WoW Change (10,000 tonnes) | WoW Change Rate (%) | YoY Change (10,000 tonnes) | YoY Change Rate (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rebar | Market | 499 | 6 | 1.2 | 115 | 29.8 |
| Mill | 373 | 16 | 4.5 | 89 | 31.1 | |
| Total | 873 | 22 | 2.6 | 203 | 30.4 | |
| Wire Rod | Market | 131 | 1 | 0.6 | 28 | 26.9 |
| Mill | 173 | 7 | 4.4 | 47 | 37.4 | |
| Total | 304 | 8 | 2.7 | 75 | 32.7 | |
| Medium & Heavy Plate | Market | 122 | -3 | -2.6 | 19 | 18.2 |
| Mill | 143 | -3 | -2.1 | 26 | 22.0 | |
| Total | 265 | -6 | -2.3 | 45 | 20.2 | |
| Hot Rolled Coil | Market | 375 | 6 | 1.6 | 114 | 43.7 |
| Mill | 123 | 1 | 1.1 | 8 | 7.3 | |
| Total | 498 | 7 | 1.4 | 122 | 32.6 | |
| Cold Rolled Coil | Market | 216 | 0 | 0.1 | 3 | 1.4 |
| Mill | 32 | 0 | -1.0 | -1 | -3.8 | |
| Total | 248 | 0 | -0.1 | 2 | 0.7 | |
| Five Major Products | Market Total | 1,343 | 9 | 0.7 | 278 | 26.1 |
| Mill Total | 845 | 21 | 2.6 | 169 | 24.9 | |
| Grand Total | 2,188 | 30 | 1.4 | 447 | 25.7 |
Source: https://www.steelhome.com/detailspage.php?nid=4735618&ntype=n
2. Imported iron ore port inventories edge higher
Imported iron ore stocks at major domestic ports stood at approximately 156.46 million tonnes this week, rising 580,000 tonnes week-on-week. The figure was 26.16 million tonnes higher than the same period of 2025, 4.76 million tonnes above the 2024 corresponding period, and 34.66 million tonnes up versus 2023 same period.
III. Steel Market Trading Volume Drops Both Week-on-Week and Year-on-Year
- Average daily rebar transactions reached 51,012 tonnes, down 7.1% from last week’s 54,925 tonnes, 17.7% lower than the full-year average of 61,996 tonnes in 2025, and 19.6% less than the 63,434 tonnes recorded in the same period last year.
- Average daily hot rolled coil transactions hit 15,237 tonnes, slipping 2.3% from last week’s 15,589 tonnes, falling 5.3% against the 2025 full-year average of 16,095 tonnes, and dropping 13.8% year-on-year from 17,673 tonnes.
- Average daily medium and heavy plate transactions were 17,587 tonnes, a 1.9% decline week-on-week from 17,927 tonnes, down 10.9% compared with the 2025 full-year average of 19,738 tonnes, and falling 17.7% versus the 21,357 tonnes of last year’s matching period.
IV. Operating Rates of Both Blast Furnaces and Electric Arc Furnaces Fall
- The blast furnace operating rate at major domestic steel mills dipped slightly this week.
- Capacity-based operating rate: 87.91%, down 0.75 percentage points week-on-week, 2.76 percentage points lower year-on-year, and 1.6 percentage points below last year’s annual average;
- Furnace-count-based operating rate: 90.59%, falling 1.01 percentage points week-on-week, 1.53 percentage points down year-on-year, and 0.37 percentage points less than last year’s annual average.
- Operating rates of independent domestic EAF enterprises edged down this week.
- Capacity-based operating rate: 66.65%, down 0.06 percentage points week-on-week, 2.02 percentage points lower year-on-year, yet 1.96 percentage points above last year’s annual average;
- Furnace-count-based operating rate: 74.29%, dropping 0.4 percentage points week-on-week, 0.92 percentage points down year-on-year, and 2.94 percentage points higher than last year’s annual average.
- Capacity utilization rate of independent domestic coking enterprises stood at 78.67% this week, down 0.52 percentage points week-on-week, up 1.29 percentage points year-on-year, and 0.81 percentage points above last year’s annual average.