News

As of August 18, the operating rate of 50 EAF steel mills nationwide mainly producing construction steel was 31.71%, down 1.96% WoW; the capacity utilization rate was 31.30%, down 2.17% WoW from the previous period; the daily average production of construction steel was 69,700 mt, down 4,800 mt WoW from the previous period.

Iron ore futures firmed modestly today. The DCE most-active contract I2701 settled at RMB 714/mt, up 0.85% from the previous session. Spot prices at Qingdao Port rose RMB 2-3/mt from the previous trading day. Traders were reasonably active in offering

[Flat products]Today HRC and some other flat-product export prices were steady day on day, with HRC transactions at 484-487 USD/tonne. Export prices have stabilised and rebounded in recent days and the market reports an increase in overseas enquiries, but buyers remain largely on the sidelines and actual deals have shown no clear improvement. [Billet]Today billet export FOB prices were steady, with Jiangyin port offers at 448-454 USD/tonne and order shipments mostly concentrated in October. According to market feedback, export prices are currently quoted mainly on a basis and have limited room to fall further, while overseas demand is driven by immediate needs and enquiry-to-deal conversion was ordinary. [Rebar]Today rebar export offers at Tianjin port were steady, with overall transactions at 472-477 USD/tonne. According to exporters, market enquiries were reasonable today and some mills received enquiries from the Dubai area. On deals, recent bookings have been mostly in small lots with no clear pick-up in volume, for September-October shipment

August 18: 64 H100 units in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia were transacted under 4-year/5-year fixed-price long-term agreements (monthly rent of 75,000-76,000 yuan/unit), driving up spot H100 pricing in western China (average price +1.59%), and H100 complete-machine procurement quotes rose to 3 million yuan/unit; 5090 complete-machine procurement prices rose 17% over half a month to 550,000 yuan/unit, the SMM index average retail price rose 15.44% MoM, leasing structures diverged, PCIE4.0 models had a monthly rent of 11,500 yuan with a minimum six-month lease, adopting volume discount, PCIE5.0 models had monthly rent open-ended at 13,000 yuan to retain price-adjustment flexibility, and 128 units were futures.

【SMM Nickel Flash】Aug 18 — Flat‑price offers for NPI are scarce. Most transactions are negotiated based on the spot average price, and the price gap between high‑nickel‑grade and low‑nickel‑grade material has narrowed. For holders, willingness to sell at low prices is limited. There are obvious price disagreements between upstream and downstream participants. Actual deals are mostly small‑sized sporadic trades, and large‑volume transactions remain hard to materialize.

[SMM Nickel Flash] August 18, the SMM market sentiment factor for high-grade NPI stood at 1.88, down 0.03 MoM; the upstream sentiment factor for high-grade NPI stood at 2, down 0.06 MoM; the downstream sentiment factor for high-grade NPI stood at 1.76, flat MoM. Trading activity in the high-grade NPI spot market remained weak.

Finland-based stainless steel producer Outokumpu has inaugurated a new biocoke agglomeration plant in Tornio, representing an investment of approximately USD 34.7 million. The facility processes biochar into biocoke to replace fossil coke in ferrochrome production and could reduce CO2 emissions by up to 82,000 tonnes annually at full capacity. Biocoke production has already started for both internal use and external customers. The project supports Outokumpu’s target to reduce value-chain CO2 emissions by 42% by 2030 from 2016 levels.

SMM learned that on August 18, a channel shared an H100 server supply order with market clients. According to client feedback, the procurement price of complete H100 units was still below 2 million yuan per unit several months ago, while current quotations have risen significantly, and this supply information is circulating among multiple clients. SMM previously learned that in early July, procurement information emerged in the market for 16 brand-new ASUS H100 machines in stock, with a three-year warranty and a quoted price of 2.74 million yuan per unit; during the same period, telecom operator clients also received information on similar supply sources. As the H100 is a mainstay model for high-end computing power, procurement-side prices remain in an upward channel, and quotations continue to rise amid scarce spot supply.

In the Tangshan area of Hebei, prices of iron ore concentrates showed no significant short-term fluctuations; the local dry-basis tax-inclusive EXW price of grade-66 iron ore concentrates was 950-955 yuan/mt; local resources of iron ore concentrates remained relatively tight, providing some support for local iron ore prices; demand side, steel mills were currently mainly purchasing as needed, but iron ore futures recently showed a relatively strong trend

SMM previously learned that on August 18, the market released a spot H100 80G server cluster in Ulanqab, comprising 64 cards and located in a certain operator's data center. The fixed monthly rent was 76,000 yuan per unit per month for a 4-year term and 75,000 yuan per unit per month for a 5-year term; splitting was not supported, relocation was not possible, and channel intermediaries were not accepted. SMM learned that the information had already been circulated among multiple clients. One client wanted to take only 16 units and sign a 3-year fixed-price contract, but the owner was not splitting orders for the time being and was currently trying to assemble a full order. Another client provided feedback that the fixed-price quote was above its own cost line. The release of this 64-card cluster in Ulanqab at a fixed price and its circulation among multiple clients through intermediaries indicated that H100 spot leasing still used price-locked long-term agreements and intermediation as the main transaction methods.