Today, the iron ore futures gradually strengthened from a weak start, fluctuating upward throughout the day. The most-traded contract I2505 closed at 780, with a daily increase of 0.19%. Traders sold goods according to market conditions, steel mills purchased as needed, and the market transaction atmosphere was moderate. The mainstream transaction prices rose by 0-3 yuan/mt compared to yesterday. According to the SMM survey, on March 26, the blast furnace operating rate of 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 87.47%, up 0.22 percentage points MoM. The daily average pig iron production of the sampled steel mills was 2.4085 million mt, up 17,600 mt MoM. During this period, there were no new blast furnace maintenance shutdowns, and five blast furnaces resumed production. In the next period, pig iron production is expected to continue to grow, and the overall demand for iron ore will continue to increase, providing some support for ore prices. Attention should be paid to the impact of tomorrow's steel demand and inventory data on ore prices...

SMM China Rare Earth Market Daily Report on March 26: Today, Kachin officially issued a notice announcing the resumption of imports of rare earth ore from Myanmar's inventory starting tomorrow. In this context, most suppliers' confidence in the future market further declined, leading to an increase in low-priced supplies and a noticeable enhancement in the initiative to sell. Influenced by the sentiment of rushing to buy amid continuous price rise and holding back amid price downturn, downstream enterprises mainly engaged in tentative inquiries, with low purchase willingness and limited trading volume of rare earth raw materials.

【SMM HRC Daily Trading】On March 26, the total daily trading volume of HRC in SMM's four cities (Shanghai, Lecong, Tianjin, Ningbo) sample enterprises was 13,590 mt, a daily decrease of 1,970 mt, down 12.7%. Today, the futures market fluctuated rangebound, the spot price dropped by 10 yuan/mt, the market trading sentiment was moderate, the futures market struggled to rise, the market sentiment was cautious, and the daily trading volume weakened.

[SMM Magnesium Ingot Spot Update: Supply and Demand Stalemate, Magnesium Prices Remain Stable] On March 24, SMM reported that upon returning to the market, trading in the magnesium market was mediocre, with transactions mainly consisting of just-in-time procurement at lower prices. The mainstream quotations for 99.9% magnesium ingot were between 15,800-15,900 yuan/mt, and magnesium prices remained stable.