Hebei to activate level II smog alert Dec 7-10

The "three red lines” refers to the 70% ceiling on liabilities to assets after excluding advance proceeds from projects sold on contract, 100% cap on net debt to equity, and cash to short-term borrowing ratio of at least one. One year after the introduction of the policy, the average asset-liability ratio and the average asset-liability ratio after excluding advance receipts at the top 100 real estate companies stood at 78.7% and 70.9%, respectively, which was a year-on-year decline of 0.7 percentage point and 0.9 percentage point.

A roundup of the ferrous metals headlines of the week.

Futures and spot prices of ferrous metals fluctuated last week. The futures prices of coking coal and coke weakened amid looser control after July 1, while spot prices stood stable.

Operating rates of blast furnaces at steel mills fell 2.7 percentage points from a week ago and decreased 3.8 percentage points from a month ago to 82.2% as of July 1, SMM survey showed.

The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) reported that crude steel output across major mills in China averaged 2.4 million mt per day in the second ten days of June, up 2.57% from early June and up 15.99% from the same period a year ago.

The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) reported that crude steel output across major mills in China averaged 2.34 million mt per day in the first ten days of June, up 2.15% from late May and up 13.33% from the same period a year ago.

North China's Hebei Province has entered "wartime mode” since January 5 to battle the new COVID-19 infections. The epicentre of the Hebei outbreak is the provincial capital of Shijiazhuang, with 11 million people under lockdown.

On January 5, 20 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Hebei, along with 43 new local asymptomatic infections, according to the latest data reported by the Hebei Provincial Health Commission.

Operating rates of blast furnaces (BFs) at Chinese steelmakers extended declines as decreased profits prompted steel mills to conduct maintenance.

Rebar fundamentals are in recovery as supply declines and pressure from the rainy season on downstream demand eases. This, together with strength in rebar futures, will support spot rebar prices this week. The upsides room of prices, however, will be limited as overall stocks linger at high levels and demand in some Chinese regions remains depressed by rainy weather.