Chinese mill steel inventories have soared to record levels as the coronavirus outbreak impeded deliveries and sales, forcing mills to get creative on storage and to cut output and export prices. China's steel inventories typically peak in late winter, but mill inventories this year have exceeded previous highs back to 2016. Mills held about 10mn t of steel in the week to 13 February, 25pc higher than the previous five-year high in February 2017, according to industry data. Rebar inventories across mills rose by more than 1mn t to exceed 6mn t this week. Previous highs in the five-year data have never exceeded 4mn t. ... (full story)