[SMM Steel Market Morning News] 15th Five-Year Plan Period to Implement 80,000 Kilometers of Transportation Infrastructure Upgrades

★Macro★

01★★★ [Ministry of Transport: 80,000 km of Transport Infrastructure to be Upgraded During the 15th Five-Year Plan Period]

Xu Chengguang, Vice Minister of Transport, stated at a press conference of the State Council Information Office that the overall goal of the 15th Five-Year Plan period is to basically establish a modern comprehensive transportation system. In terms of optimizing the transportation structure, the focus will be on promoting the renovation and digital transformation of transport infrastructure. By 2030, approximately 80,000 km of facilities will be upgraded, a new round of rural road improvement actions will be implemented, and 500,000 km of rural roads will be newly built or reconstructed. In strengthening system integration, the key is to improve the comprehensive transportation system in modern metropolitan areas, implement projects to enhance intercity commuting efficiency in metropolitan areas, accelerate the construction of 20 international and 80 national comprehensive transportation hub cities, advance the development of multimodal transport, and unblock bottlenecks and choke points, striving to enhance the multimodal transport functions for 1,000 major freight nodes within about 5 years.

02 ★★ [Anhui H1 GDP Up 5.6% YoY]

Anhui Provincial Government Information Office held a press conference. At the conference, the Anhui Provincial Bureau of Statistics released the economic performance of the province for H1 2026. According to the unified accounting of regional gross domestic product (GDP), the province's GDP in H1 reached 2,737 billion yuan, up 5.6% YoY at constant prices. By industry, the primary industry added value was 125.9 billion yuan, up 2.4%; the secondary industry added 1,066.1 billion yuan, up 6.7%; and the tertiary industry added 1,545 billion yuan, up 5.2%.

03 ★★ [Shandong H1 GDP Up 5.6%]

The Shandong Provincial Government Information Office held a press conference under the theme "Data Speaks for Shandong's Development," inviting the provincial government spokesperson and others to present the economic and social performance of Shandong for H1 2026. According to the unified accounting, Shandong's GDP in H1 reached 5,317.3 billion yuan, up 5.6% at constant prices. By industry, the primary industry added 301 billion yuan, up 4.2%; the secondary industry added 2,094.7 billion yuan, up 4.8%; and the tertiary industry added 2,921.6 billion yuan, up 6.4%.

★Industry and Downstream★

01 ★★★[SMM Electric Furnace Operating Rate] Some Mills Extend Operating Hours; Current Operating Rate Edges Up

As of July 21, the operating rate of 50 electric furnace steel mills primarily producing construction materials nationwide stood at 36.62%, up 0.04% MoM; the capacity utilization rate was 36.50%, down 0.06% MoM; and the daily average production of construction materials was 81,300 mt, down 100 mt MoM.

02 ★★ [National Railway Administration: Adhere to Moderate Advance but Not Overly Advance, Fully Advance a Batch of Major Project Construction]

The State Council Information Office held a press conference on accelerating the construction of a strong transportation country and improving the modern comprehensive transportation system. It was introduced that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China's railways will aim to basically achieve modernization, adhering to the principle of "moderate advance but not overly advance," with a focus on safety enhancement, coordinated layout, digital and intelligent upgrading, green transformation, integrated development, and systematic governance, and will fully advance the construction of a batch of major projects. Efforts will be stepped up to address weaknesses in the railway network, break through bottlenecks, and ensure smooth network circulation, accelerating the construction of a modern railway network that is extensively covered, rationally structured, fully functional, and highly efficient, moving from a stage of "basic adaptation" to a new phase of "quality and efficiency improvement." It will serve the national strategies for regional coordinated development, major regional strategies, new-type urbanization, and rural revitalization, injecting strong momentum and providing key support for the modernization of China.

03★★[Ministry of Transport: Penetration Rate of New Energy Heavy-Duty Trucks Expected to Exceed 40% by 2030]

The State Council Information Office held a press conference. Cai Tuanjie, Director General of the Transport Service Department and Chief Safety Officer of the Ministry of Transport, presented the scale application of new energy heavy-duty trucks. It was introduced that in May this year, the Ministry of Transport, together with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and 10 other departments, jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for Promoting the Scale Application of New Energy Heavy-Duty Trucks." This plan, which is comprehensive and already public, takes achieving carbon peak in the transport sector before 2030 as the core goal, proposing targets such as a penetration rate of 40% for new energy heavy-duty trucks and ownership exceeding 1.6 million units by 2030. Of course, given the current development momentum, these targets may be exceeded, but we will still strive to achieve better results.

04 ★★ [National Energy Administration: 3,825 New Registered New Energy Power Generation Projects Added Nationwide in June]

Data from the National Energy Administration shows that in June 2026, a total of 3,825 new registered new energy power generation projects (excluding household PV) were added nationwide, including 32 wind power projects, 3,787 PV power generation projects (36 centralized PV power generation projects and 3,751 commercial and industrial distributed PV power generation projects), and 6 biomass power generation projects.

★Other Hot Topics★

⭕[China to Build Over 3,000 Charging and Battery Swapping Stations for Electric Heavy-Duty Trucks]Cai Tuanjie, Director General of the Transport Service Department and Chief Safety Officer of the Ministry of Transport, stated at a press conference of the State Council Information Office that the focus will be on building over 3,000 charging and battery swapping stations for electric heavy-duty trucks, targeting busy freight corridors along national highways and ordinary national and provincial roads, urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas like Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Chengdu-Chongqing region, as well as key nodes such as freight hubs, ports, mining areas, factories, and industrial parks, thereby promoting the connection of energy supply facilities "from points to lines and networks."

⭕[Peru Issues Final Anti-Dumping Ruling on Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Pipes from China]According to the Trade Remedies Investigation Bureau, the Committee on Dumping, Subsidies and Non-Tariff Trade Barriers of Peru's National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) published Announcement No. 156-2026/CDB-INDECOPI in the official gazette "El Peruano," issuing a final anti-dumping ruling on hot-rolled carbon steel pipes originating from China. It decided to impose anti-dumping duties ranging from $49.2/mt to $193.6/mt, with the measure valid for five years.

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