Market Expectations Are Pessimistic, Ferrochrome Prices Fluctuate Downward [SMM Daily Review]

From January to August, industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide achieved total profits of 5.27198 trillion yuan, up 15.7% YoY. From January to August, among industrial enterprises above designated size, state-controlled enterprises achieved total profits of 1.67599 trillion yuan, up 10.3% YoY; joint-stock enterprises achieved total profits of 4.07146 trillion yuan, up 20.4%; foreign-invested and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan-invested enterprises achieved total profits of 1.17947 trillion yuan, up 2.3%; private enterprises achieved total profits of 1.32132 trillion yuan, up 10.4%. From January to August, the ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry achieved total profits of 29.43 billion yuan, down 62.4% YoY. From January to July, the ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry achieved total profits of 29.09 billion yuan. Based on this calculation, the steel industry achieved profits of 340 million yuan in August alone. In July alone, the steel industry recorded losses of 2.68 billion yuan.

According to monitoring data from the China Index Academy, as of September 24, a total of over 870 real estate-related policies had been introduced nationwide, of which more than 280 were rolled out in Q3, continuing the high-frequency policy implementation trend seen in H1. Local policies mainly focused on three directions: activating demand, optimizing supply, and urban renewal, primarily involving the optimization of restrictive policies, adjustment of housing provident fund policies, issuance of home purchase subsidies, revitalization of existing housing stock, construction of "quality housing," and the implementation of supporting policies for urban renewal.

India has ordered 112 captive coal-fired power plants with capacity of at least 50 MW to operate at maximum capacity from October 1 through December 31, as the government prepares for an expected increase in electricity demand. The September 25 directive, issued by the federal power ministry under emergency provisions of the Electricity Act, covers captive plants primarily serving aluminium smelters, steel mills, cement plants and oil refineries, including facilities operated by Vedanta, Tata Steel, Hindalco, JSW Steel and others. Generators have also been instructed to sell surplus electricity through power exchanges and submit weekly reports covering generation, captive consumption, available capacity and coal stocks. The measure comes as nearly 40% of India’s coal-fired plants are operating with critically low fuel inventories, amid stronger power demand linked to hotter-than-usual weather.