Steel prices moved upward as steel mills in central China continued to resume production [SMM survey]

During the survey period (April 16-April 22), the output of rebar at steel mills in central China continued to rebound in the week, and the speed of destocking slowed down; it is expected that the output of wire rod at steel mills in central China will still increase in the next period.
During the survey period (March 16-March 22), rebar capacity utilisation rate in central China continued to rise. Production of steel mills in Hubei that restarted returned to normal in the week, with more production days than last week and a significant increase in output; electric furnace plants in Hubei and Henan increased operating hours due to improved profits, resulting in a small increase in daily output; in addition, some steel mills in three central China provinces met their early billet orders, and molten iron flowed back to building materials, resulting in a large overall increase in output. In terms of inventory on hand, the recent downstream purchasing was normal, and as the Labour Day holiday approaches, some agents prepared inventory in advance, causing inventory on hand to continue to decline.
It is expected that the production of rebar in central China may remain stable next week, as most steel mills have been operating normally.
During the survey period (April 16-April 22), the operating rate and capacity utilization rate of wire rods in central China increased. Steel mills in Hunan and Henan resumed wire rod rolling line in this period, and overall output continued to increase; secondly, as the coil benefits of some electric furnace steel mills are good, the operating hours have been increased, while the production of coiled rebar increased.
In terms of inventory on hand, the production of coiled rebar was small and the inventory continued to drop. Recently, the production of wire rod increased and the destocking slowed down slightly.
It is expected that the wire rod output in central China will continue to increase next week, mainly as the steel mills that have resumed production in Hunan will have more production days in the next period than in the current period.