Inventories of five main steel products in China down slightly in March

As of March 31 this year, overall domestic inventories of the five main finished steel products in 20 major cities in China totaled 19.06 million mt, down 940,000 mt or 4.7 percent compared to March 20, but still up 12.24 million mt or 179.5 percent compared to the end of December 2019. Comparing the total stocks of the five main steel products in China in late March with the amount in late February, there is almost no difference (as of February 29, inventories were 19.05 million mt), which indicates that demand in China has so far not been sufficient to absorb the huge tonnages accumulated during the quarantine period. In particular, as of March 31, domestic inventories of hot rolled coil (HRC), cold rolled coil (CRC) and common medium plate were 2.59 million mt, 1.58 million mt and 1.13 million mt, decreasing by 4.2 percent, 3.8 percent and 7.6 percent respectively compared to March 20. Wire rod and rebar stocks amounted to 3.82 million mt and 9.94 million mt as of March 31, down 1.5 percent and 5.8 percent respectively compared to March 20.