Chinese rebar futures fell on Friday and posted their biggest weekly loss in six weeks as there was little sign that steel demand was picking up in the world’s top consumer after the long Lunar New Year holiday.

The most traded May rebar contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange hit a low of 2,462 yuan ($393), its weakest since Jan. 28. It closed down 1.3 percent at 2,464 yuan.

It lost 2 percent this week and has fallen 4.9 percent so far this year.

“Construction activities have not started yet. And a weak property market could continue to weigh on steel demand in the first half of this year as smaller cities are still facing high pressure digesting housing inventories,” said Li Wenjing, an analyst at Industrial Futures in Shanghai.

Sluggish sales have forced more Chinese steel mills to slash production after the week-long Lunar New Year break and hold back on purchases of the raw material, traders said.

Imported ore stockpiles at major ports in China had risen 1.42 million tonnes to 95.96 million tonnes as of Friday compared with Feb. 17, according to industry consultancy Umetal.

Iron ore futures for May delivery on the Dalian Commodity Exchange were up 0.2 percent at 485 yuan but the price has fallen 4.3 percent so far this year.

Benchmark 62 percent grade iron ore for immediate delivery to China .IO62-CNI=SI fell 0.6 percent to $62.50 a tonne on Thursday, according to data compiled by the Steel Index. The price has fallen 12.2 percent so far this year.