Iron ore futures held up well today, with intraday performance slightly weakening. The most-traded contract I2601 closed at 808.5, up 0.37% from the previous trading day. Traders showed moderate willingness to sell; steel mills exhibited increased wait-and-see sentiment, with purchase willingness remaining moderate on Monday.

[Domestic Iron Ore Brief: Iron Ore Concentrate Prices in Shandong May Continue to Rise] In Shandong, mines and beneficiation plants quoted the 64-grade alkaline powder at 868 yuan per dry metric ton, excluding tax and on an acceptance basis, down by 5 yuan. Steel mills followed suit with price adjustments, maintaining long-term agreement purchases. Domestic iron ore concentrate resources remain relatively tight. Procurement pace by steel mills in Hebei and local areas has accelerated compared to the previous period. Small mills and traders are selling at market prices, and overall market transactions are moderate.

[SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review: Pre-Holiday Procurement Demand Yet to Materialize, SS Futures Rebound While Stainless Steel Spot Prices Hold Steady] SMM, September 22: SS futures showed signs of stopping falling and rebounding. Starting from the Friday night session, SS futures began to cease declines and gradually strengthened, further rallying at the opening of the daytime session. During the session, prices once approached 13,000 yuan/mt, oscillating near the 12,900 yuan/mt level throughout the day. In the spot market, driven by the rise in SS futures, inquiry activity increased slightly before noon, with traders raising their offers modestly. However, actual transaction outcomes were not ideal. As pre-holiday stockpiling demand ahead of the National Day holiday has not yet become evident, stainless steel spot transaction prices remained largely stable. On the futures side, the most-traded contract, SS2511, traded in the doldrums. At 10:30 a.m., SS2511 was quoted at 12,930 yuan/mt, up 60 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. In the Wuxi region, the spot premium/discount for 304/2B was in the range of 340-640 yuan/mt. In the spot market, the average price for cold-rolled 201/2B coil in Wuxi was reported at 8,100 yuan/mt; for cold-rolled mill-edge 304/2B coil, the average price in Wuxi was 13,200 yuan/mt, and in Foshan, 13,200 yuan/mt; for cold-rolled 316L/2B coil in Wuxi, the price was 25,750 yuan/mt, and in Foshan, 25,750 yuan/mt; for hot-rolled 316L/NO.1 coil, both regions reported 25,150 yuan/mt; for cold-rolled 430/2B coil, both Wuxi and Foshan reported 7,600 yuan/mt. Despite the current traditional peak consumption season of "September-October peak season," downstream end-use demand for stainless steel...

Iron ore futures held up well today, with the most-traded contract I2601 closing at 807.5, up 0.81% WoW. Traders showed a strong willingness to sell, while steel mills remained cautious and observed the market, with purchase willingness declining from yesterday.

[Domestic Iron Ore Brief Review: Iron Ore Concentrate Prices in Eastern Liaoning May Remain Volatile] Today, domestic ore prices in some areas of the eastern Liaoning market edged higher, driven by sustained strength in external markets, leading to a slight increase in local iron ore concentrate prices; most local beneficiation plants remain optimistic about the outlook, showing strong reluctance to budge on prices.

According to the SMM survey, the SMM Ningbo HRC large-port statistical inventory stood at 383,500 mt as of September 17, up 4,000 mt WoW. This week, HRC prices first rose then fell, with spot prices fluctuating rangebound by 10-20 yuan/mt WoW. Trading atmosphere was moderate during the week, with end-users purchasing as needed and showing relatively low restocking willingness. As of the afternoon close on September 19, the most-traded HRC 2601 futures contract settled at 3,374 yuan/mt.

[SMM Stainless Steel Daily Review: Short-Term Positives Exhausted, Stainless Steel Prices Struggle to Rise] SMM, September 19 - SS futures were in the doldrums. The US Fed's interest rate cut aligned with market expectations, and the short-term positive effects were largely released. SS futures returned to fundamentals, remaining in the doldrums below 12,900 yuan/mt throughout the day, once approaching 12,800 yuan/mt intraday. Spot market, early this week, spot offers edged up driven by stronger SS futures and higher stainless steel mill list prices. However, downstream end-users had low acceptance of high-priced stainless steel, and transactions were not ideal. Subsequently, traders offered discounts under sales pressure, and spot prices gradually pulled back. Additionally, short-term macro tailwinds were largely exhausted, and cost side, upward momentum was insufficient, making it difficult for stainless steel spot prices to sustain gains. However, as month-end approaches, pre-holiday stockpiling demand is expected to gradually emerge. Moreover, social inventory of stainless steel fell for the 11th consecutive week, down 1.79% WoW to 897,200 mt. Although market demand feels weak, downstream demand is gradually recovering during the peak season, and stainless steel mills remain in losses, making significant price declines unlikely in the short term. Futures side, the most-traded contract 2511 was in the doldrums. At 10:30 am, SS2511 was quoted at 12,870 yuan/mt, down 90 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. In Wuxi, spot premiums/discounts for 304/2B were in the range of 350-650 yuan/mt. In the spot market, Wuxi cold-rolled 201/2B coils were offered at 8,100 yuan/mt on average; cold...