WEEKLY: China's retail steel stocks fall to 5-mth low

Inventories of the five major carbon steel items held by traders and stored in warehouses throughout China declined for the ninth consecutive week over December 12-18, with the tonnage falling by 3.1% or 482,200 tonnes to sit at 15.02 million tonnes, the lowest level in five months, according to Mysteel's weekly survey.

The five major steel items comprise rebar, wire rod, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC) and medium plate. Stocks of rebar, wire rod, HRC and CRC trended downwards on week, leaving medium plate the only item showing a rise in inventories during the sample week, the survey result shows. Among the five