According to China's Ministry of Commerce, in the week ending August 21 steel prices in the Chinese market rose by 0.4 percent from the previous week. In particular, in the week in question the sales prices of 6.5 mm high speed wire rod and 12 mm rebar indicated respective week-on-week increases of 0.8 percent and 0.6 percent.

As of August 19, construction steel inventory in the twenty-nine main cities of China totaled 6.4 million mt, down 3.3 percent from July 20 and declining by seven percent compared to the same period of last year. Based on the statistics issued by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), in early August (August 1-10) the average daily output of crude steel of its member companies reached 1.63 million mt, up 1.2 percent compared to late July.