[SMM Rebar Daily Review] Spot Prices Remain Stable, Market Transactions Are Limited

Today, there were no futures market activities. Some merchants in the market did not take a break, and spot prices across regions remained generally stable, with relatively low transaction volumes. From the perspective of industry fundamentals, blast furnace steel mills recently saw both new maintenance activities and the resumption of production from previous maintenance, keeping production relatively stable. Currently, the profitability of rebar production at many steel mills remains moderate, with expectations of increased output in the future. Additionally, as electric arc furnace steel mills gradually resume production, rebar supply is expected to increase. However, downstream demand recovery still requires time. Fortunately, the current total inventory of construction steel is at a relatively low level YoY, and there are no significant imbalances in the fundamentals. Recently, iron ore prices have shown a strong trend, while coke has entered the eighth round of price cuts, leading to narrow fluctuations in steel mill production costs. Under the current low demand for construction steel, market transactions are largely influenced by sentiment. The strength in iron ore prices has somewhat boosted market confidence, and producers show strong willingness to raise prices. It is expected that construction steel prices will have some room for an increase next week.