[SMM Iron & Steel] ArcelorMittal Liberia Progresses Toward 20 MTPA Capacity

The HRC price edged up intraday, with the most-traded contract closing at 3,228, up 0.06%. In the spot market, national mainstream city HRC offers were mostly stable with some increases, cold-rolled and coated sheets prices held steady, and export prices remained stable. Data-wise, hanghai HRC inventory was 347,100 mt this week, up 14,300 mt WoW (a 4.30% increase); the Gregorian calendar YoY decline was 10.95%, while the lunar calendar YoY increase was 17.94%. Mainstream city inventories began to accumulate gradually. Short-term, market transactions gradually stalled, and HRC prices were expected to stabilize in the latter half of the week; post-holiday inventory buildup will be monitored.

[SMM Coking Coal and Coke Daily Brief] In terms of supply, coking costs decreased this week, coking plant profits increased slightly, and overall production levels remained stable; however, some coking plants experienced sluggish shipments, leading to some accumulation of coke inventory. On the demand side, after continuous restocking earlier, steel mills mostly maintained high coke inventory levels, with low restocking willingness before the Chinese New Year, mainly purchasing as needed. In summary, the coke market will remain in the doldrums before the holiday.

[SMM Hot-Rolled Coil Daily Trading] On February 11, the total daily trading volume of hot-rolled coils from sample enterprises in four cities (Shanghai, Lecong, Tianjin, Ningbo) surveyed by SMM amounted to 3,450 mt, down 2,050 mt (down 37.3%) day-on-day, down 79.27% YoY, and down 28.72% compared with the same lunar calendar period last year.