SMM April 21,
April 21, the SMM high-grade NPI market sentiment factor was 2.47, up 0.04 MoM, the high-grade NPI upstream sentiment factor was 3.08, up 0.05 MoM, and the high-grade NPI downstream sentiment factor was 1.86, up 0.03 MoM. Supply side, upstream suppliers continued to raise offer prices, with a clear willingness to hold prices firm. Demand side, some steel mills made just-in-time procurement, and a small volume of high-priced transactions occurred in the market. Overall, divergence between upstream and downstream participants persisted, and supported by rigid supply-demand and cost fundamentals, the price center maintained an upward trend.
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