Amid sluggish steel demand and bleak demand outlook, the Chinese domestic rebar prices assessed by Platts fell to Yuan 3,570/mt ($496/mt) on March 13, down Yuan 20/mt on the day and were Yuan 389/mt lower from the end of 2023, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights data.

China’s subdued steel demand, combined with falling steel prices, also weighed on steel production so far in 2024.

China’s daily pig iron and crude steel output for March 1-10 averaged 2.144 million mt and 2.487 million mt, down 1.4% and 2.8%, respectively, from the estimates for late February, according to estimates of China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).

CISA does not report year-on-year changes for its estimated pig iron and steel output. But market sources expected China’s pig iron and crude steel output in February, and even in March, to be lower than the year-ago levels.