News

[SMM Chrome Weekly Review: Steel Tender Prices Rose, and the Market Remained Temporarily Stable] March 20, 2026 News: Quotes for chrome ore and ferrochrome were unchanged for the time being...

[Market Participants Became More Rational in Sentiment, and Grain-Oriented Silicon Steel Prices May Fluctuate Rangebound Next Week] In terms of transactions, the procurement pace of end-use industries such as downstream transformers and power equipment slowed down, and purchase willingness remained cautious, with procurement mainly consisting of small-volume, as-needed restocking orders, while large-volume purchasing activity was scarce, resulting in relatively low actual market trading activity. In addition, resources from steel mills’ earlier directed orders arrived successively, and traders’ circulating inventory accumulated steadily. Some merchants offered slight price concessions to accelerate turnover and boost shipments, but the overall room for concessions remained limited and failed to effectively lift transactions.

This week, total rebar inventory stood at 8.3525 million mt, up 57,800 mt WoW, or 0.7% (previously +3.46%). Compared with the same period of the lunar calendar last year, it increased by 281,200 mt, or 3.48% (previously +4.58%).

Based on current production conditions and in line with prevailing market demand, mainstream steel mills in Fujian (such as Sansteel MinGuang, Fujian Sanbao, Fujian Dadonghai, Wuhang, and Fujian Hongfeng) successively adjusted the price spread between size groups for construction steel starting March 17.

Based on current production conditions and in light of current market demand, starting from March 17, mainstream steel mills in Fujian (such as Sansteel Minguang, Fujian Sanbao, Fujian Dadonghai, Wuhang, and Fujian Hongfeng) successively adjusted the price spreads for construction steel specification components.

This week, ferrous metals rebounded from the bottom. At the start of the week, coking coal and coke led the futures higher, mainly driven by rising crude oil prices in the overseas market, which pushed the energy and chemicals sector stronger accordingly; mid-week, both the U.S. and Iran signaled a more relaxed stance toward war, easing geopolitical tensions, while coal prices fell in tandem, weakening the cost-side logic, and ferrous metals fluctuated at highs; in the latter half of the week, worsening short-term liquidity issues in BHP's iron ore port inventory triggered stronger iron ore prices in the overseas market, while the Middle East situation remained volatile, reinforcing cost support and pushing ferrous metals higher again. In the spot market, supported by futures, end-user and arbitrage purchase sentiment both improved WoW this week......

[Yonggang's General Steel Price Adjustment for Issue 3-2, 2026] Rebar and Wire Rod Both Remained Unchanged

Based on current production conditions and in light of prevailing market demand, effective March 10, Yuk Kun, Xian Fu, Cheng Steel, De Sheng, and Heng Steel adjusted the price spreads among specification groups for construction steel.

According to SMM’s latest tracking, the total planned volume of cold-rolled commercial products for this month across 31 mainstream cold-rolled coil steel mills was 4.073 million mt, up 257,500 mt from last month’s actual production of cold-rolled commercial products, an increase of 6.7%.

This week, ferrous metals held up well within a narrow range. Over the weekend, turmoil in the Middle East and the escalation of the U.S.-Iran conflict triggered wild swings in the international energy market, sending energy and precious metals sharply higher, while ferrous metals—except coking coal and coke—mostly retreated after rapid rise following the open; mid-week, although there were bullish expectations around the Two Sessions, no new news emerged, the steel market remained relatively stable, and the pattern of raw materials outperforming finished steel products continued; in the latter half of the week, the Two Sessions’ macro conclusions met expectations, but had already been priced in by futures earlier, and high-level fluctuations in international oil prices continued to support raw materials, in turn pushing ferrous metals to edge higher on a steady footing. In the spot market, in the second week after the holiday, the market gradually resumed work and resumed production, but with insufficient momentum from futures, overall willingness to purchase was not high, and transactions were mainly concluded at low prices......