China’s output of hot-rolled coils and plates is likely to be little changed in June, as the recovery from maintenance will be offset by new maintenance and switches back to cold-rolled products.

An SMM survey showed that 35 steelmakers in China plan to produce a total of 9.34 million mt of hot-rolled coils and plates in May, up 3.1% from the realised output of 9.06 million mt in April.

An SMM survey showed that 35 steelmakers in China plan to produce 9.03 million mt of hot-rolled coils and plates in April, down 0.2% from the realised output of 9.03 million mt in March.

Inventories of hot-rolled coils of steel sheets used to produce home appliances and cars in China continued to trend higher, hitting a new record high, as cargoes stranded at ports moved to social warehouses following logistics recovery. SMM data showed that HRC stocks across social warehouses and steelmakers stood at 5.78 million mt as of Thursday March 12, some 65.37% higher than the same period after the Lunar New Year holiday last year.

Chinese steelmakers plan to produce 9.29 million mt of hot-rolled steel in Dec, up 4.75% from the realised output in Nov

Social stocks fell 1.8% from a week ago to 1.74 million mt as of Nov 28, compared with a drop of 4.7% in the previous week

Steelmakers plan to produce 9.7 million mt of HRC this month, up 0.7% from realised output in Jul

Stocks fell 2.1% from a week ago to stand at 2.95 million mt as of May 23, down 1.1% from a year ago

Such a substantial increase in supply is set to weigh on prices

Stocks declined 4.2% from a week ago to stand at 3.14 million mt as of Apr 11