OREANDA-NEWS. February 03, 2012. Distributor stocks of the five steel products (rebar, wire rod, hot rolled coil, cold rolled coil and medium plate) stood at 15.84 million tons in 26 big cities, up 1.47 million tons from the pre-holiday level. This indicated the fifth consecutive weekly growth, although the gain was the most modest since 2008.

Stocks of rebar continued to grow by 836,000 tons to 6.66 million tons. 25 cities registered gains in stock with Guangzhou and Beijing taking the lead. Wire rod inventories rose by 303,000 tons, much of the growth came from South China, notably in Guangzhou. Stocks of hot rolled coil, medium plate and cold rolled coil increased by 208,000 tons, 66,000 tons and 54,000 tons respectively.

The steel inventories were growing slowly during the Spring Festival in response to both cautious approaches by mills to their production schedules and tradersбп reluctance to restocking. The overall stocks would likely keep climbing as the supply and demand position remains imbalanced.