The most-traded HRC futures contract fluctuated downward today, closing at 3,361, a decrease of 0.86%. This week, the HRC market continued to weaken, with prices falling and overall transactions lower compared to last week. In terms of supply, some steel mills began a new round of maintenance this week, leading to a decline in HRC production. On the demand side, the off-season effect was significant, with weekly apparent consumption of HRC noticeably decreasing. For inventory, SMM's statistics for 86 warehouses (large sample) nationwide showed that the social inventory of HRC was 3.4237 million mt, up 118,900 mt or 3.62% MoM. National social inventory continued to accumulate, and by region, except for a slight decrease in central China, all other regions saw an increase in inventory, with east China experiencing the largest increase. Regarding costs, the seventh round of coke price increases (50-55 yuan/mt) was implemented on Friday, while iron ore prices adjusted slightly downward, leaving overall cost support for HRC stable for now. On the macro front, early in the week, it was rumored that blast furnaces in Tangshan would be subject to 40% capacity restrictions by the end of August, prompting raw material prices to start adjusting. Although the reduction in production is beneficial for finished products, the collapse in cost support pushed prices to their lowest point in