Total Construction Steel Social Inventory Continued Destocking, with Slight Divergence across Regions

Published: May 21, 2026 11:40

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Construction steel social inventory: According to SMM survey, the destocking pace of total construction steel social inventory slightly accelerated this period.

Construction steel social inventory: According to SMM survey, the destocking pace of total construction steel social inventory slightly accelerated this period. As of May 21, 2026, SMM construction steel social inventory stood at 5.4348 million mt, down 197,600 mt WoW, a decline of 3.51%, with the destocking pace slightly faster than the previous week. This was mainly because futures trended downward during the survey period, traders had low willingness to purchase, and mill inventory failed to be transferred to social inventory in a timely manner, leading to accelerated social inventory destocking.

Regional social inventory: By region, the northwest region saw faster inventory destocking than other regions this period, mainly because incoming resources to Shaanxi decreased significantly, driving rapid local inventory destocking. In east China, some markets saw inventory shift from decline to increase, mainly due to continuous rainfall during the survey period, combined with weak futures performance, downstream purchases declined, and inventory accumulated slightly. The north China region also saw inventory accumulation in some markets, mainly because incoming resources increased, while downstream participants chose to wait and see cautiously amid weakening futures, maintaining only rigid-demand purchases. Inventory in other regions showed no notable changes for now.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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