[SMM Analysis] HRC Inventory Surges in Ningbo After the Holiday, Demand Yet to Recover

[SMM Analysis] Significant Accumulation of HRC in Ningbo After the Holiday, Slow Demand Recovery Drags on Transactions

According to the SMM survey, in the first week after the holiday, the large-aperture inventory of SMM HRC in Ningbo was 492,000 mt (as of February 25), up 114,000 mt WoW from the week before the holiday.

This week, HRC futures first rose and then fell, with spot prices falling by 10-30 yuan/mt WoW from the period before the holiday, and transaction performance was relatively poor during the week. As of the afternoon close on February 27, the most-traded HRC 2605 futures contract closed at 3,215 yuan/mt.

Meanwhile, according to the SMM survey, in the Ningbo spot trading market this week, in terms of prices, as of the afternoon of February 27, spot offers closed at 3,230-3,240 yuan/mt, with prices falling by 10 yuan/mt WoW from February 13 during the week. In terms of transactions, the recovery pace of downstream procurement demand after the holiday fell short of expectations, with overall transactions being relatively poor. Even when futures rose mid-week, it was difficult to achieve transactions when spot prices followed the adjustment. In terms of arrivals, the shipping pace of mainstream resources was normal, with an increase in DDH arrivals, so the extent of inventory accumulation was slightly higher than expected. Looking ahead, with logistics returning to normal, inventories will gradually decline, but given the current slow recovery in demand, the decline is not expected to be overly optimistic, and it is anticipated to gradually expand over the next 2-3 weeks.

This week, SMM released its weekly HRC balance data, showing an MoM increase in HRC production. This week, SMM statistics showed that the total social inventory of HRC in 86 warehouses (large sample) across the country was 5.3775 million mt, up 1.1404 million mt from the period before the holiday and up 31.57% YoY on the lunar calendar. By region, the markets with significant accumulation were in southern China, eastern China, and northern China.

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