Ningbo's HRC Inventory Rises 8.78% WoW, Up 75.12% YoY to 352,000 mt

[SMM Hot-Rolled Coil Daily Trading] On February 4, the total daily trading volume of hot-rolled coils from SMM's four-city (Shanghai, Lecong, Tianjin, Ningbo) sample enterprises was 11,140 mt, up 500 mt (42.7%) MoM, up 4.7% YoY on a Gregorian calendar basis, and up 46.58% YoY on a lunar calendar basis.

2.4 News: The SM2605 contract opened at 5,842 yuan/mt and finally closed at 5,868 yuan/mt, up 0.31%. The daily highest price was 5,880 yuan/mt and the lowest price was 5,826 yuan/mt. Trading volume was 118,900 lots, and open interest was 354,221 lots. Today, SiMn futures edged up under pressure. Cost side, overall manganese ore transaction prices remained high and the market temporarily stabilized, providing strong cost support for SiMn alloy prices. In 2026, the cost support from local electricity prices in Inner Mongolia and electricity prices in south China for alloy costs was under verification, but a rise was likely. At the start of the week, SiMn alloy cost support temporarily stabilized. Supply side, newly added SiMn furnaces in the main northern production areas gradually started producing iron, increasing supply pressure for standard SiMn. Operating rates at alloy plants in south China remained stably low. In 2026, the intensity of electricity fee policies in Guangxi and Guizhou awaited verification; most plants maintained off-peak production. With the Chinese New Year approaching, manufacturers chose temporary shutdowns, adopting a strong wait-and-see attitude, pending post-holiday electricity settlement prices. Currently, loose supply pressure for SiMn persisted. Demand side, HBIS Group's SiMn procurement for February 2026 awaited verification. The current SiMn market continued to be dominated by volatile movements.

HRC futures rose first then fell today, with the most-traded contract closing at 3,274 yuan/mt, up 0.18% intraday; spot market prices increased by 10-20 yuan/mt. Supply side, hot-rolled maintenance impact this week stood at 274,500 mt, up 12,000 mt WoW, while next week's maintenance impact is expected to be 24.59 mt, down 28,600 mt WoW. HRC production remained stable WoW ahead of the holiday. Demand side, manufacturing end-users gradually entered holiday mode this week. Futures rallied before the midday session today, leading to improved spot transaction volumes, though deals were mainly concluded at lower prices, with limited acceptance for high-priced resources. Raw material side, ,,,,