Platts reported that some Chinese analysts do not expect the recent revival of demand to last for long.

An analyst with Shanghai-based Orient Securities said “Overcapacity and relatively high steel inventories will dampen further improvement. While downstream steel demand has strengthened slightly due to central government macro-investment, it has yet to become strong enough to sustain an upswing in prices.”

According to a weekly report by Beijing-based China Securities Research China's inventory of long products, including wire rod and rebar, slipped to 4.48 million tonne on May 3rd 2009 down by 200,200 tonnes from a week earlier. Stocks of flat products, including hot rolled coil, cold-rolled coil and plate, stood at 5 million tonnes down by 47,600 tonnes WoW.

(Sourced from Platts)