[SMM Steel Market Morning Brief] PBOC: Month-end April broad money (M2) balance reached 353.04 trillion yuan, up 8.6% YoY

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Macro

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[PBOC: Broad Money (M2) Balance Reached 35.304 Trillion Yuan at End of April, up 8.6% YoY]

PBOC data showed that at the end of April, the balance of broad money (M2) stood at 35.304 trillion yuan, up 8.6% YoY. The balance of narrow money (M1) was 11.458 trillion yuan, up 5% YoY. The balance of currency in circulation (M0) was 1.475 trillion yuan, up 12.2% YoY. Net cash injection in the first four months was 653 billion yuan.

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[PBOC: Aggregate Social Financing Increment in the First Four Months Was 15.45 Trillion Yuan, 893 Billion Yuan Less Than the Same Period Last Year]

PBOC data showed that, according to preliminary statistics, the cumulative increment of aggregate social financing in the first four months of 2026 was 15.45 trillion yuan, 893 billion yuan less than the same period last year. Among them, RMB loans to the real economy increased by 850 billion yuan less YoY to 8.5 trillion yuan; foreign currency loans to the real economy increased by 103.6 billion yuan in RMB equivalent, 213.4 billion yuan more YoY; entrusted loans decreased by 94.1 billion yuan, 99.4 billion yuan more in decrease YoY; trust loans increased by 300 million yuan, 45.1 billion yuan less in increase YoY; undiscounted bankers' acceptances increased by 51.3 billion yuan, 199.2 billion yuan less in increase YoY; net corporate bond financing was 150 billion yuan, 739.3 billion yuan more YoY; net government bond financing was 445 billion yuan, 399 billion yuan less YoY; domestic equity financing of non-financial enterprises was 200.8 billion yuan, 65.5 billion yuan more YoY.

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[US April Export Prices up 8.8% YoY, Exceeding Expectations]

US April export prices rose 3.3% MoM, versus an expected 1.2% increase; April export prices were up 8.8% YoY, versus an expected 7.0% increase.

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Industry & Downstream

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[SMM HRC Weekly Balance] Production Declined, HRC Inventory Drew Down Well This Week

This week, SMM statistics showed that HRC social inventory across 86 warehouses nationwide (large sample) was 4.7134 million mt, down 155,100 mt WoW, down 3.19% WoW, and up 30.49% YoY on a lunar calendar basis. By region, inventory in northeast, north, and east China markets saw notable declines, central China market inventory drew down slightly, and south China market saw inventory buildup.

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[SMM Construction Steel Weekly Balance] Strengthening Futures and Spot Prices Boosted Market Activity, Construction Steel Demand Released in Phases

Supply side, some blast furnace steel mills halted construction steel rolling lines for maintenance due to product mix adjustments during the period; EAF steel mills saw slight improvement in comprehensive per-mt steel profitability, with some electric furnace plants resuming production or raising operating hours, leading to a slight increase in overall construction steel production. Demand side, rebar futures surged strongly in the first half of the week, reaching a new high for the year. Spot prices followed the uptrend, and the market sentiment of rush to buy amid continuous price rise and hold back amid price downturn led to notably improved trading activity, with end-users showing greater enthusiasm for purchasing at low prices. According to SMM statistics, both mill inventory and social inventory drew down to varying degrees. Total construction steel inventory was 8.1396 million mt, down 348,200 mt WoW, down 11.68% WoW, with the destocking pace accelerating.

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Other Hot Topics

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⭕[Hainan Plans to Raise Maximum Housing Provident Fund Loan Limit to 1.2 Million Yuan]The Hainan Provincial Housing Provident Fund Management Center recently released the "Notice on Further Optimizing and Adjusting Housing Provident Fund Loan Policies (Draft for Public Comments)," proposing to further optimize and adjust housing provident fund loans to better meet contributors' rigid and improvement-oriented housing demand and promote stable and healthy development of the real estate market. The draft proposed raising the maximum benchmark loan limit for purchasing owner-occupied housing. For contributor families purchasing new or second-hand owner-occupied housing and applying for housing provident fund loans, where only one spouse contributes to the provident fund, the maximum benchmark loan limit is to be uniformly raised from the current 800,000 yuan for new housing and 600,000 yuan for second-hand housing to 1 million yuan; where both spouses contribute to the provident fund, the maximum benchmark loan limit is to be uniformly raised from the current 1.1 million yuan for new housing and 900,000 yuan for second-hand housing to 1.2 million yuan.

⭕[China's Computing Power Infrastructure Opens Up Offshore Track, World's First Subsea Data Center Achieves Zero Freshwater Consumption]As the AI wave sweeps the globe, computing power is becoming a crucial foundational productive force. The ultimate constraint of computing power is electricity. To forge a green, intensive, and sustainable path for computing power development, China's computing power infrastructure enterprises have taken an innovative approach by building computing centers under the sea. In the East China Sea waters east of Xiaoyangshan in Shanghai Lingang, an offshore platform rising more than 20 meters above sea level stands out prominently. This is the world's first operational offshore wind-directly-connected subsea data center, with a total investment of 1.6 billion yuan, an overall planned capacity of 24 megawatt (MW), and a Phase I demonstration project with an installed capacity of 2.3 MW, weighing 1,950 mt in total — equivalent to the weight of 1,300 passenger cars. Project leader Chen Xiyi estimated that if this 2.3 MW subsea data center used the traditional method of freshwater cooling, annual freshwater consumption would reach 40,000 mt, equivalent to approximately 100 years of usage for an average household. The project employs passive refrigerant circulation technology, using seawater as a cold source to dissipate server heat, achieving zero freshwater consumption.

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