[Daily steel market report] [2025-8-22]

**Today's steel market price briefing**
**August 22, 2025**

1 Main Steel Price Performance

In August, the prices of the main steel varieties in the country showed a fluctuating and downward trend as a whole.

Variety           Price/Quantity Monthly change (%)     Date     Unit

Wire                                                             3595.00          0.31                         2025-8-22            yuan/ton

Rebar                                                          3226.00           -4.90                       2025-8-22             yuan/ton

HRC                        3413.33          -4.39                       2025-8-22              yuan/ton

CRC                       4000.00         0.76                          2025-8-22            yuan/ton

Medium Plate                                            3541.30         4.07                           2025-8-20              yuan/ton

GI Plate                     4252.50         -1.62                         2025-8-22            yuan/ton

S.S steel                      13075.00        -0.04                         2025-8-22              yuan/ton

Specifically, the Shanghai Rebar Price Index increased slightly from 3296 yuan/ton on August 1 to a monthly high of 3314 yuan/ton on the 12th, and then fluctuated downwards, falling to 3238 yuan/ton on August 26, with a price amplitude of less than 100 yuan/ton for the entire month. Hot-rolled coils also fell under pressure, with an average monthly price of 3484 yuan/ton, down 80 yuan month-on-month.

2 Analysis of supply and demand

2.1 Supply side: production activities slow down

The steel production index in August was 48.0%, down 3.9 percentage points from the previous month. According to data from the China Iron and Steel Association, the average daily crude steel output of steel companies in early August was 2.074 million tonnes, down 1.1% from the same period last month. Although the exploitation rate and capacity utilization rate of blast furnaces remain relatively high (83.46% and 90.81% respectively), they have decreased slightly from the previous period.

2.2 Demand Side: Weak Performance

The rate of new steel orders in August was 49.7%, down 2.2 percentage points from the previous month1. The weak demand is mainly affected by:

Extreme weather interference: High temperatures and rainy weather affect the progress of outdoor construction activities.

Export orders declined: The new export orders index fell sharply to 38.6%, falling for two consecutive months and recovering from the contraction range.

3 Inventory Status: Accumulated

The finished goods inventory index in August was 53%, up 7 percentage points month-over-month and hit a new high in nearly nine months. This is mainly due to relatively weak demand, which has slowed the speed of finished products produced by steel mills. Judging from the data of the five major steel varieties, the balance between supply and demand in the market has gradually been broken, and the gap between supply and consumption has gone from negative to positive and continues to expand, indicating that the market's steel inventory is gradually accumulating.

4 Raw material costs: they continue to operate at a high level

In August, although the Commodity Purchase Price Index fell to 78.1, it remained relatively high.