Today, HRC futures and spot prices held up well in a volatile manner, with the most-traded contract closing at 3276, up 0.09%. In the spot market, most markets across the country maintained stable quotes, with overall trading performance being moderate. In terms of data, according to SMM shipping data, during this week, steel port departures from China's main ports reached 3.1363 million mt, up 28% WoW, indicating strong export performance.
Looking ahead, on the supply side, according to the latest tracking by SMM, the planned daily production of hot-rolled commodity materials for 39 mainstream steel mills producing HRC in July was 464,200 mt, down 2.72% from the actual daily average production of hot-rolled commodity materials in June. The planned daily average production of hot-rolled materials for domestic steel mills in July decreased MoM from the actual production in June. On the demand side, amid the off-season, with frequent high-temperature and rainy weather, the overall demand for steel is under pressure. However, the downstream demand for HRC and steel exports are expected to maintain strong resilience. In addition, on the macro side, amid the "anti-rat race" policy and the "warm breeze" of the Political Bureau meeting, market sentiment has recovered. It is expected that HRC futures prices will hold up well in the short term. However, the overall pullback in steel demand during the off-season will limit the upside room for HRC prices.