[SMM Sheets & Plates Daily Review] Short-Term Sheets & Plates May Continue to Move Sideways

Today, the most-traded HRC contract fluctuated downward, closing at 3,380, up 0.6% from the previous trading day. Spot sheets & plates rose by 10-20 yuan/mt from the previous session. Supply side, this week’s impact from hot-rolling maintenance was 74,100 mt, down 156,400 mt WoW. Next week’s impact from hot-rolling maintenance is estimated at 23,100 mt, down 51,000 mt WoW from this week, and supply pressure continued its uptrend this month. Demand side, futures rebounded in late trading, and market transactions improved somewhat from the prior session, mostly at low prices, with some buying based on spot-futures price spreads at lows. Cost side, late in the session today, market rumors said that China Mineral Resources had informally instructed to suspend the issuance of letters of credit for blended super special fines, causing iron ore futures to rise in response. However, subsequent new rumors refuted this, leading to volatile swings in the futures market. For coking coal and coke, the spot market was tight in supply and demand, and in the short term prices may be recovering from earlier declines. Overall, HRC regional inventory data released today showed that except for South China, other regions mostly maintained destocking, and the supply-demand imbalance remained not significant. The market is likely to continue fluctuating in the short term, with attention on disturbances from the raw material side.