[SMM Sheets & Plates Daily Review] Demand and Cost in a Tug of War, Short-Term Prices Operating in a Volatile Range

HRC futures closed at 3,399 today, up 0.06% for the day. Spot side, spot HRC held steady, while cold-rolled was stable to down 10 yuan/mt. Overall transactions today were dominated by low prices, with trading being lackluster. News side, the US adjusted tariffs on steel, aluminum, and copper, which was positive for agricultural machinery products but bearish for steel overall. HRC maintenance data was released today. According to SMM, the impact from maintenance on hot-rolled mills this week was 142,500 mt, down 43,000 mt WoW. Next week, the impact from maintenance on hot-rolled mills will be 60,000 mt, down 82,500 mt WoW, and supply is expected to continue to rebound. Demand side, off-season sentiment was strong among downstream sectors, with market shipments and transactions clearly struggling. Prices showed a tendency to weaken, but considering that raw materials still offered support, coupled with the fact that supply-demand imbalances had not yet begun to accumulate significantly, looking ahead, the market is expected to hold prices firm as the dominant strategy, oscillating amid the interplay between off-season fundamentals and cost support.