[SMM Rebar Daily Review: Can the Subsequent Trend Be Boosted Amidst Persistently Weak Demand?] Today, the futures market fluctuated and closed at 3,061, down 0.07% from the previous trading day. On the spot cargo side, market quotes were largely stable in the morning session, while in the afternoon, quotes in some regions loosened, with a decline of 10-20 yuan/mt. Trading activity was sluggish throughout the day.

According to the SMM survey, as of May 21, the operating rate of blast furnaces at 242 steel mills surveyed by SMM was 88.41%, down 0.23 percentage point MoM. The capacity utilisation rate of blast furnaces was 90.08%, down 0.37 percentage point MoM. The daily average pig iron production of the sampled steel mills was 2.4303 million mt, down 10,000 mt MoM.

According to the SMM survey, as of May 20, the operating rate of 50 electric furnace steel mills across the country, which mainly produce building materials, was 38.46%, up 1.3% MoM from the previous period; the capacity utilisation rate was 39.72%, up 1.08% MoM; the daily average production of building materials was 88,400 mt, an increase of 2,400 mt MoM.

[SMM Rebar Daily Review: High Temperatures in the North and Rainy Season in the South Suppress Demand, Construction Steel Prices Continue to Weaken] Today, futures fluctuated downward, closing at 3,058, down 0.59% from the previous trading day. On the spot cargo side, market quotes were largely stable in the morning session. In the afternoon, affected by the weakening futures market, quotes in some regions loosened, with declines of 10-20 yuan/mt. Trading performance throughout the day was average.

Overall, the products involved in Malaysia's anti-dumping case accounted for 2.87% of China's total exports of tin-plated (or coated) flat-rolled iron or non-alloy steel products, representing a relatively small share. The export destinations where anti-dumping products accounted for over 5% of the total exports included Italy, Mexico, UAE, Belgium, and the US. The current varieties of steel products subject to Malaysia's anti-dumping measures against China, as well as the specific progress of the case, are as follows...

During the research cycle (May 13-May 19), the capacity utilization rate of rebar rolling lines in Central China continued to be adjusted downward; the start rate and capacity utilization rate of wire rod rolling lines remained unchanged from last week.

According to SMM research, the maintenance impact volume of construction steel products during this week (May 17–23) continued to increase slightly. Steel mills initiated scheduled maintenance on blast furnaces and rebar rolling lines this week, with the total maintenance impact volume reaching 1.1378 million tons, a week-on-week increase of 24,000 tons.

[SMM Survey: Rebar Supply in Central China Declines WoW Amidst Poor Iron Tapping and Product Mix Adjustments] During the survey period (May 13-19), the capacity utilisation rate of rebar rolling lines in the Central China region continued to decline; the operating rate and capacity utilisation rate of wire rod remained unchanged from the previous week.