[SMM Steel Market Morning News] China's M2 Money Supply Up 7% YoY in January

★Macro★

01★★ 【China's M2 Money Supply Up 7% YoY in January】

Data from the central bank showed that at the end of January, the balance of broad money (M2) was 318.52 trillion yuan, up 7% YoY. The balance of narrow money (M1) was 112.45 trillion yuan, up 0.4% YoY. The balance of currency in circulation (M0) was 14.23 trillion yuan, up 17.2% YoY. Net cash issuance for the month was 1.41 trillion yuan.

02 ★★ 【Central Bank: RMB Deposits Increased by 4.32 Trillion Yuan in January】

According to a central bank report, at the end of January, the balance of deposits in both domestic and foreign currencies was 312.95 trillion yuan, up 5.9% YoY. The balance of RMB deposits was 306.55 trillion yuan, up 5.8% YoY. RMB deposits increased by 4.32 trillion yuan in January. Among them, household deposits increased by 5.52 trillion yuan, non-financial enterprise deposits decreased by 206 billion yuan, fiscal deposits increased by 332.4 billion yuan, and non-banking financial institution deposits decreased by 1.11 trillion yuan.

03 ★★ 【Central Bank: RMB Loans Increased by 5.13 Trillion Yuan in January】

According to a central bank report, at the end of January, the balance of loans in both domestic and foreign currencies was 264.6 trillion yuan, up 7% YoY. The balance of RMB loans was 260.77 trillion yuan, up 7.5% YoY. RMB loans increased by 5.13 trillion yuan in January. By sector, household loans increased by 443.8 billion yuan, of which short-term loans decreased by 49.7 billion yuan and medium and long-term loans increased by 493.5 billion yuan; loans to enterprises and institutions increased by 4.78 trillion yuan, of which short-term loans increased by 1.74 trillion yuan, medium and long-term loans increased by 3.46 trillion yuan, and bill financing decreased by 514.9 billion yuan; loans to non-banking financial institutions decreased by 200.8 billion yuan. At the end of January, the balance of foreign currency loans was $534.8 billion, down 19.9% YoY. Foreign currency loans decreased by $7.3 billion in January.

04★★【White House Issues Statement on "Reciprocal Tariff" Policy: Trump to Launch "Fair and Reciprocal Plan"】

On the 13th local time, the White House issued a statement regarding President Trump's announcement of the "reciprocal tariff" policy, stating that Trump will launch a "fair and reciprocal plan" to reduce the US's persistent large trade deficit in goods each year and address "unfair and unbalanced trade issues" with foreign trading partners. Under the plan, the Trump administration will review non-reciprocal trade relationships with all US trading partners and determine tariff reciprocity between the US and each trading partner.

★Industry and Downstream★

01 ★★ 【"National Subsidy" Boosts Guangdong's Spring Festival Consumption】

During this year's Spring Festival period (January 28 to February 12), Guangdong sold 575,000 home appliances and 681,000 digital products. From the start of the current trade-in policy to 24:00 on February 12, sales of home appliance products in Guangdong reached 52 billion yuan, with an estimated "national subsidy" benefit of 9.8 billion yuan; sales of digital products exceeded 35.8 billion yuan, with an estimated "national subsidy" benefit of 4.3 billion yuan.

02 ★★★  【China Metallurgical Group: New Contracts Signed in January 2025 Totaled 87.79 Billion Yuan】

China Metallurgical Group announced that the company signed new contracts worth 87.79 billion yuan in January 2025, down 13.4% YoY. Among them, new overseas contracts amounted to 3.1 billion yuan, up 123.1% YoY.

03 ★★ 【Three Residential Land Parcels in Hangzhou Sold for 1.53 Billion Yuan】

According to land intelligence, on February 14, Hangzhou's land market saw the sale of three residential land parcels, two in Yuhang District and one in Linping District, with a total transfer area of 84,400 m², a total planned construction area of 96,900 m², and a total starting price of approximately 1.23 billion yuan. Ultimately, two parcels were sold at a premium and one at the reserve price, generating a total of 1.53 billion yuan.

04 ★★ 【Multiple Regions Release Special Bond Land Purchase Lists】

Local governments have made new progress in acquiring idle land stock, with multiple regions recently releasing the first batch of special bond land purchase lists. According to incomplete statistics from the China Index Academy, as of February 11, cities in Guangdong Province, including Foshan, Huizhou, Zhuhai, Zhongshan, and Jiangmen, announced over 160 land parcels with a total intended purchase price exceeding 35 billion yuan. Among them, Huizhou ranked first with a total intended purchase price exceeding 12 billion yuan, followed by Zhuhai with 6.65 billion yuan. Industry insiders believe that most cities still need to accelerate the implementation of special bond land purchases, as there are multiple challenges in acquiring idle land stock. Addressing these bottlenecks and speeding up the acquisition process may become a key focus of future central and local government policies, with related supporting policies expected to continue improving.

05 ★★ 【Jiangnan Shipyard Secures World's Largest VLAC Order】

Jiangnan Shipyard has secured an order for two 93,000 m³ Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLACs) from Singapore-based shipowner JALDHI OVERSEAS. According to TradeWinds, JALDHI's President and CEO Suresh Kumar confirmed that the company has shifted its business focus to the liquefied gas sector, driven by optimism about India's growing demand for liquefied gas. The number of VLACs ordered by JALDHI from Jiangnan Shipyard has now increased from two to four. In August last year, JALDHI signed a 2+2 VLAC construction contract with Jiangnan Shipyard, marking its first foray into the large liquefied gas carrier market. These four VLACs are scheduled for delivery between year-end 2027 and 2028.

★Other Hot Topics★

⭕【Baosteel Products Support Full-Capacity Grid Connection of Guangxi's First Offshore Wind Power Project】Recently, with the final wind turbine blades gradually starting, green electricity was transmitted to thousands of households through facilities such as submarine cables, booster stations, switch stations, and the power grid. Guangxi's first offshore wind power project—Fangchenggang Offshore Wind Power Demonstration Project Site A—officially achieved full-capacity grid connection, becoming Guangxi's first offshore wind project to measure wind, obtain approval, commence construction, connect to the grid, and achieve full-capacity grid connection. Notably, Baosteel Zhanjiang Steel provided over 50,000 tons of steel plates for the project. Actively practicing the concept of green and low-carbon development and accelerating offshore wind power development, Zhanjiang Steel leveraged its past experience in producing wind power steel. Despite challenges such as steel plate scratches and poor plate shape, the team remained undeterred. They conducted in-depth communication with technical departments to refine process plans and ultimately identified the root causes of the issues. Subsequently, the team optimized functional precision, operational methods, and control standards, improved process interfaces, and conducted on-site experiments and analyses during downtime. Ultimately, the team successfully overcame numerous technical challenges in producing similar steel plates, ensuring stable performance and surface quality, and achieving high-quality, short-cycle delivery to users.

⭕【Tangsteel's Low-Alloy High-Strength Steel Used for Pipeline Engineering Structural Components】

Used for manufacturing structural components in pipeline engineering, Tangsteel closely collaborated with high-end downstream customers to further promote product structure upgrades, providing strong support for entering markets in economically developed regions and manufacturing hubs. Targeting the market potential in the Yangtze River Delta region, Tangsteel focused on connecting with renowned pipe welding suppliers in the industry to understand the demand trends for pipe materials in the region and carried out customized R&D and production. To meet customers' narrow strength range and high elongation requirements, Tangsteel established a collaborative team for production, sales, and R&D. The team designed a new carbon-manganese composition system for the order, optimized rolling processes such as furnace discharge temperature, final rolling temperature, and coiling temperature, and achieved grade upgrades. Standardized operations were implemented throughout the steelmaking and hot rolling processes, with precise control of key parameters and stricter quality inspection standards, ensuring that product performance fully met customer requirements.

⭕【Tonggang Successfully Develops Ultra-Small Diameter Products on Precision Bar Line】

Recently, Tonggang's precision bar production line, after successfully developing ultra-design large-diameter specifications of 85 mm and 90 mm, continued to push boundaries and successfully produced 210 tons of ultra-small diameter products with a diameter of 14 mm. Testing confirmed that the surface quality and dimensional accuracy of the product met standard requirements. This dual breakthrough in both ultra-large and ultra-small specifications on the precision bar line represents not only a technological and equipment capability breakthrough for the company but also a demonstration of Tonggang's innovation and willingness to challenge conventional thinking. It vividly showcases the company's continuous R&D efforts in Tonggang's series of blue ocean products, contributing to the improvement of localized sales rates and achieving both economic and social benefits.