Jan 10– Inventories of construction steel rebar in China rose for a sixth straight week as of January 9, as the seasonal impact on demand exacerbated and winter stockpiling accelerated the shipment of cargoes from steel plants to social warehouses.

But winter restocking was slower than with a year ago, as most traders remained wait-and-watch and planned to postpone the restocking plans till mid-January, a SMM survey showed.

Despite elevated stocks, spot prices of rebar are expected to stabilise before the Chinese New Year holiday as electrical arc furnace (EAF) steel mills slashed operating rates on the back of losses and blast furnaces steelmakers also planned to scale back rebar production in January.

According to SMM data, rebar inventories at Chinese steelmakers stood at 2.26 million mt as of January 9, around three weeks prior to the Chinese New Year holiday. This was up 3.7% from January 2, compared to a 2.8% rise last week.

Inventories across social warehouses advanced 16.1% on the week and stood at 3.98 million mt, accelerating from a buildup of 12.8% in the previous week. Social stocks were nearly flat from the same period a year earlier.

Overall inventories of rebar, including stocks across steelmakers and social warehouses, increased 11.3% and posted 6.24 million mt as of January 9, after an increase of 8.7% in the prior week.

On a yearly basis, overall inventories were 6.6% higher as of January 9, following after a buildup of 2.2% last week.