Construction Steel Inventory Continued to Build Up, but Growth Slows Sharply

Published: Mar 12, 2026 17:54

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Total rebar inventory stood at 8.2948 million mt this week, up 277,000 mt WoW, or 3.46% (previous: +11.33%), and up 363,200 mt from the same period of the previous lunar year, or 4.58% (previous: +4.6%).

Construction steel inventory continued to build up this week. Supply side, maintenance at blast furnace steel mills eased marginally this week, with hot metal flowing back to construction steel products; EAF steel mills resumed production successively, and the capacity utilization rate improved WoW, lifting the overall supply level of construction steel. Demand side, market demand gradually started to recover, the pace of downstream construction site resumptions accelerated, and rigid-demand purchases improved WoW, driving an overall rebound in apparent consumption. Overall, both supply and demand increased this week. Although total construction steel inventory continued to build up, the pace of increase slowed significantly.
Total rebar inventory stood at 8.2948 million mt this week, up 277,000 mt WoW, or 3.46% (previous: +11.33%), and up 363,200 mt from the same period of the previous lunar year, or 4.58% (previous: +4.6%).

In-factory rebar inventory stood at 2.4975 million mt this week, up 24,700 mt WoW, or 1% (previous: +8.4%), and up 83,200 mt YoY, or 3.45% (previous: +3.57%). As the advantage of flat steel products was weaker than in the previous period, some hot metal flowed back to construction steel. Meanwhile, EAF steel mills resumed production as expected, increasing the overall supply of construction steel. At the same time, downstream construction sites resumed work successively, and some direct-supply demand recovered. Therefore, although in-factory construction steel inventory increased this week, the pace of increase slowed significantly.

Rebar social inventory stood at 5.7973 million mt this week, up 252,300 mt WoW, or 4.55% (previous: +12.69%), and up 280,000 mt YoY, or 5.08% YoY (previous: 5.07%). Futures fluctuated at current levels, and market participants remained cautious about the outlook. Trading sentiment was moderate, with transactions still mainly driven by rigid-demand purchases, and social inventory continued to build up.

Affected by the gradual resumption of supply and the lagged recovery in demand, construction steel inventory is expected to continue to increase slightly next week. However, given that the concentrated production resumptions at electric furnace mills have largely come to an end, and there is a lack of large-scale new production release going forward, supply-side growth will likely flatten out. Coupled with the full resumption of downstream construction sites and the continued release of end-user procurement demand, the market supply-demand pattern will gradually improve.

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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