The spot price of EMM is temporarily stable, with all parties waiting for guidance from the alliance meeting. [SMM EMM Daily Review]

[SMM Hot-Rolled Coil Daily Trading] On May 21, the combined daily trading volume of hot-rolled coil from SMM's sample enterprises across four cities (Shanghai, Lecong, Tianjin, Ningbo) totaled 13,760 mt, up 160 mt DoD (+1.2%), up 30.06% YoY (solar calendar), and up 26.70% YoY (lunar calendar).

[Silicon Metal Prices Shift to Move Sideways, Attention on Operating Rate Changes on Both Supply and Demand Sides]: At the beginning of the week, spot silicon metal prices edged lower in a narrow range before shifting to move sideways. As of May 21, SMM east China oxygen-blown #553 silicon was at 9,100-9,200 yuan/mt, down 150 yuan/mt WoW, and #441 silicon was at 9,300-9,400 yuan/mt, down 150 yuan/mt WoW. The futures market center shifted lower WoW. On Thursday, the most-traded SI2609 contract closed at 8,440 yuan/mt, down 215 yuan/mt WoW, with open interest at 308,000 lots, a WoW decrease of 7,000 lots. In terms of market transactions, as futures weakened at the beginning of the week, some downstream buyers and traders increased their rigid demand purchases, and the market transaction center moved lower WoW. Fundamentals side, both supply and demand of silicon metal are expected to increase in June. Supply side, the main driver is the increase in operating rates of silicon enterprises in Sichuan and Yunnan during the rainy season. Demand side, the main factor is production resumption expectations of individual polysilicon enterprises.

Today, the most-traded HRC contract rose first then fell, closing at 3,394 at the end of the session, down 0.59% intraday. HRC spot prices mostly declined 10-20 yuan/mt today, with some markets remaining stable. In terms of supply, weekly hot-rolled production was 3.1739 million mt, up 19,700 mt WoW, with supply pressure relatively neutral. Demand side, morning transactions were moderate, while afternoon futures decline weakened market transactions. Cost side, after macro front disturbances eased, short-term cost support was limited. Looking ahead, overall HRC inventory will continue to decline, with total inventory down 161,300 mt WoW this week. The supply-demand imbalance showed divergence, with inventory in east China and northern regions continuing to decline while ...