Inventory pressure of steel pipe market is still very large

From the middle of March, China’s steel social inventory and steel mill inventory began to decline, but the overall decline is not particularly large. According to the new statistics from the market research department of China iron and steel association, in late March, the social inventory of five major types of steel products of agriculture greenhouse in 20 cities in China reached 19.6 million tons, with a decrease of 940,000 tons or 4.7%. That was an increase of 12.24 million tons, or 179.5 percent, from December.

From the regional perspective, in late March, only the steel inventory in central China increased slightly, with an increase of 20,000 tons, and other areas showed a small trend of decline. By type, in late March, the national rebar steel inventory reached 9.94 million tons, a month-on-month reduction of 620,000 tons, a drop of 5.8%; that was an increase of 7.19 million tons, or 261.5 percent, from December. The inventory of hot-rolled coil reached 2.59 million tons, a decrease of 110,000 tons, or 4.2%. That’s an increase of 1.49 million tons, or 135.5 percent, from December. The inventory of material of glasses greenhouse reached 1.58 million tons, which decreased by 60,000 tons, or 3.8%, month on month. That’s an increase of 520,000 tons, or 49.1%, from December. Medium and thick board inventory reached 1.13 million tons, a month-on-month decrease of 90,000 tons, and a decrease of 7.6%; that’s an increase of 250,000 tons, or 28.4%, from December. The inventory of custom curtain wall material reached 3.82 million tons, a decrease of 60,000 tons, or 1.5%. That was an increase of 2.79 million tons, or 270.9 percent, from December. It can be seen that the inventories of the five varieties have declined from month to month, among which the rebar steel has decreased a lot, while the other varieties are relatively few.

At the same time, steel mill inventories have also declined. According to statistics, in the second half of March, the steel inventory of key steel enterprises in China reached 18.0666 million tons, with a decrease of 1.7574 million tons or 8.87 percent. This is an increase of 8,534,100 tons, or 89.53%, from the beginning of the year. On the whole, since the epidemic situation in China became stable, all industries across the country have gone all out to “seize” back the lost time in the early stage, vigorously promote the resumption of work and production, and the growth of “steel demand” of single span greenhouse has accelerated. Industry insiders have said that the second quarter is likely to see a “blowout” of steel demand growth.