JINAN, China, Oct. 26, 2026 — Chinese channel steel prices enter the final week of October on a softer footing, after the Tangshan reference quotation held at USD 486.92 per tonne on Oct. 23, Shanghai material at USD 515.39 and Dianli’s Q235B 22# (220×77×7.0 mm) at USD 492.84, all unchanged, China Steel Market data show.
The flat close caps a month of quiet erosion across the steel complex. Rebar futures settled at CNY 3,051 per tonne on Oct. 23, down 1.8% on the month and near two-month lows, after the World Steel Association cut its 2026 global demand forecast to a 0.1% contraction from 0.3% growth in April. It now expects Chinese demand to fall 2% this year, with India the sole bright spot at 7.9% growth.
Why channel steel prices are holding, not falling
Supply discipline is doing the work. Only 6.9% of Chinese steelmakers were profitable at the end of September, and average daily hot metal output has slipped to a six-month low of 2.34 million tonnes. Crude steel output for January–September reached 724.77 million tonnes, down 2.9% year on year, while September alone was flat at 73.59 million tonnes. Mills are cutting volume rather than chasing market share — which is why hot rolled channel steel in 16#–40# sizes has traded in a narrow band for three weeks instead of following futures down.
Policy is the second support. Beijing has redirected CNY 550 billion (about USD 82 billion) of unused local government debt quotas toward infrastructure spending, a channel that reaches structural steel demand faster than property construction does.
Export demand is strong, but narrower
China’s steel exports topped 10 million tonnes again in September. The composition, however, is changing. Pakistan extended anti-dumping duties on Chinese cold-rolled coil this month, Korea extended provisional duties on galvanized sheet, and new anti-dumping cases against Chinese steel have reached 17 so far in 2026. Channel steel has avoided the heaviest measures, but buyers in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Latin America increasingly require mill test certificates, third-party inspection and origin documentation — a shift that favours suppliers with direct mill relationships over spot traders.
Three checks before you book Q4 tonnage
Grade equivalence.
●Q235B maps broadly to ASTM A36, S235JR and JIS SS400, but yield and carbon tolerances differ by mill. Verify the grade on the mill certificate, not the invoice.
Weight basis.
●Chinese channel steel is traded on actual weight; European UPN profiles are often quoted on theoretical weight. On a 25-tonne lot the gap can reach 3–5%.
Finish.
●Pre-galvanized and hot-dip galvanized C channel for solar racking carries a zinc specification — typically Z275 or Z350 — that belongs in the contract, not the email thread.
What to watch this week
Monday’s mill offers will be the first test of whether Tangshan holds the USD 486–493 band. Billet costs, month-end restocking and the approach of winter heating restrictions in northern China all point to a sideways-to-slightly-softer week, with cost support limiting the downside.
Sourcing channel steel from China
Shandong Ruixiang Steel Group Co., Ltd. based in Jinan, Shandong, supplies hot rolled channel steel from UPN 80 to UPN 300, plus C channel and galvanized profiles, with mill test certificates, third-party inspection and container-loading supervision. Send your size list and destination port for a quotation this week.
Post time: Oct-26-2026