China steel inventories hit four-year high in first three quarters

Rising mill and social stockpiles point to demand lagging output rather than a supply crunch, a signal that matters for steel-intensive construction and manufacturing supply chains feeding China's economy. The gap between mill inventories and social inventories — the latter up far more year to date — suggests the build-up is spreading beyond producers into traders and end-users. Whether the early-October month-on-month jump reflects seasonal restocking or a deeper demand problem is the open question, and how Beijing's steel output and property-related demand data respond will be the next marker to watch.