Retail stocks of the five major carbon steel items stockpiled in traders' commercial warehouses across China that Mysteel regularly checks rose during the week of July 24-30 for the second week in a row, the results of Mysteel's latest weekly survey showed.

As of July 30, the total inventories of rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC) and medium plate held by traders in the 132 cities Mysteel monitors had edged up by 1% or by 191,600 tonnes on week to 19.39 million tonnes, the survey results showed.

Stocks of rebar, HRC and medium plates posted on-week gains, with those of rebar and HRC contributing the most to the inventory build by volume, the survey results indicated.

Specifically, rebar inventories gained 1.3% or by 104,200 tonnes on week to reach 7.94 million tonnes, and stocks of HRC mounted by 1.9% or 89,300 tonnes on week to 4.76 million tonnes as of the same day.

Sluggish end-user demand remained major factor causing stcks to mount this week as steel production actually dropped this week, Mysteel Global noted.

The combined output of the five carbon steel items declined this week amid worsening losses and eased part of the pressure stemmed from the subdued demand, Mysteel noted in its weekly report, with the tonnage produced by the 137 steel mills under Mysteel's tracking down by 2.3% or 191,300 tonnes to 8.18 million tonnes over July 23-29

Moreover, Typhoon Noul made landfall in South China's Guangdong province last Sunday bringing heavy rainfalls and flooding to provinces in South China and Central China by the regions, impacting finished steel consumption, as reported.

Apparent consumption of the five finished steel items under Mysteel's tracking totaled 8.12 million tonnes this week, down by 1.5% or 121,900 tonnes on week.

Finished steel prices also slid further amid the weakening market fundamentals, with Mysteel assessing the national price of HRB400E 20mm dia rebar at Yuan 3,259/tonne ($482/t) on July 29, down by Yuan 18/t on week, while the average price of Q235 4.75mm HRC nationwide had also edged down by a small Yuan 3/t on week to Yuan 3,301/t on the same day.

Meanwhile, finished steel inventories held by traders in Mysteel's smaller sample of 35 cities also climbed slightly this week, with the tonnage amounting to 11.91 million tonnes as of July 30, up by 1% or by 123,100 tonnes from July 23.